Homecoming Dance
by bugmagnent
Summary: The Homecoming dance is coming...soon, and tensions mount as the day draws nearer and Sakura still doesn't have a date.
1. Eleven days to go...

This is my very first Fanfic story EVER!!!!!!! You should be so lucky as to get to read it!!! Read and review and be very gentle, like I said, I'm new at this!!!!

BTW… I don't own Card Captor Sakura or any of the characters, but this story-line is mine because it happened to me—okay, maybe not all of it, but all the mushy stuff you read is based on my experiences…*Thinks….* what experiences?

Hope you like!!!!!

P.S. they are 16 years old and all of the cards have been captured. (my little brother got confused, so I thought some other people might get confused as well…)

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Syaoran stared at Sakura. She had such beautiful dazzling green eyes. He no longer stared at her eyes, he stared **_into_** her eyes…They were such a deep shade of green…They looked like precious emeralds one would expect to find in the Louvre (A.N. that's a famous museum in Paris, France). 

Sakura stared back, gazing deeply into his amber eyes. She was in a trance. Neither one of them noticed that they were both leaning forward. They continued to lean toward each other…unaware of what they were doing. They were both so caught up in the moment. Sakura wished she could make the moment last forever. They got closer and closer, their faces now just inches away from each other. She closed her eyes, feeling what was happening. 

Syaoran tilted his head and closed his eyes as well. Before either of them realized that they had actually done it…they were kissing the sweetest kiss Sakura had ever felt-not that she had ever been kissed before.

"**SAKURA!!!!!!**"

"Wha-Wha-What..?" Sakura sleepily raised her head off the kitchen table.

"You haven't listened to a thing I've said, have you?"

"S-S-Sorry. I guess I dozed off."

"I'm not **THAT** boring," Tomoyo asserted. "Am I?" she added in a sudden thought of panic.

"No…I've just been dreaming…man it was a good dream too…Why did you have to wake me up?"

"Because I came over to your house to help you work on the project Mrs. Fuji assigned us. It's due in a week Sakura…I just hope you stay awake long enough for us to get any work done."

Tomoyo Daidouji stared at her best friend. Sometimes Sakura Kinomoto could be so dense and so forgetful… Sakura was the embodiment of the best space cadet there ever was…especially when a certain someone just happened to be on her mind.

"I'm sorry Tomoyo…Now what are we doing our project on?" Sakura sweatdropped as Tomoyo fell to the floor. "I only explained it, pulled out charts and graphs to show you, and suggested things we could do. Oh, **my** bad. You were too busy dreaming about your little amber-eyed price charming to hear or see any of my wonderful ten minute presentation." Tomoyo grew huge and her eyes bugged out. Sakura only sweatdropped and hid under the table, attempting to save herself from the wrath of Tomoyo.

"Iamverysorryforfallingasleepduringoneofthebestperformancesyou'veevergivenandi'msorryIwasasleepinsteadofbeingthereforyou," Sakura said in a hurry, attempting to soothe the savage beast.

"It will be ok. I'll find a way you can make it up," cooed Tomoyo with an evil grin on her face. "I'll find a way, just you wait and see."

"Tomoyo, I can see the wheels turning in your head, and I don't like where they're going."

"Oh, don't worry…Just remember that the Homecoming dance is coming up." Tomoyo grinned a grin that was even more evil than her first grin.

"I see those gears working, and no I am not going to do the entire project myself just to free you up so you can go shopping for a dress, even though Eriol hasn't asked you out yet. This is your project too. Besides, if you make me do the whole thing, we'll both fail, and that would hurt your precious little GPA." (A.N. for those of you who have no idea what a GPA is, it's your grade point average, and if you are still confused, send a review and I'll e-mail you w/an explanation)

Tomoyo sweatdropped before falling backwards anime-style. Sometimes her best friend was too naïve for her own good. She, however, decided not to clue her friend in.

"Okay, since I was stupid and fell asleep during your wonderful explanation, and now am having to ever so politely ask you to at least hint to me what it is we are supposed to be doing our project on?"

"You didn't even pay attention in class when she was giving out the assignment, did you?"

"**_Me_**? **_Pay attention_**? In **_CLASS_**? **How long** have you known me again?"

Tomoyo just rolled her eyes.

****

"HEY!!!! WAIT A SECOND!!!! WHAT DID YOU SAY EARLIER? ABOUT ME AND ERIOL AND THE DANCE?" 

Sakura sighed. She wasn't the only one so caught up in one subject that she didn't pay attention to anything else. "You're getting slower Tomoyo…You used to be able to catch little things like that only a splitsecond after I said them…You are waaay too stressed out…We need to go to the mall and just cruise."

"Okay, okay. I caught that one… You hate to go to the mall and avoid it at all costs. But seriously, what did you say earlier?"

"I don't remember…You broke my concentration."

"And when has that ever been hard to do?"

Sakura grabbed her open book and threw it at Tomoyo.

"Now if only your aim was as good as your dreams," said Tomoyo haughtily with a look of pleasure on her face.

"Hey, you watch it!!!!"

"No, you watch it," cried Tomoyo as she threw at Sakura some of the mashed potatoes that were sitting out on the counter.

"Hey, that was part of my supper!!!"

"Well, now it's part of your **wardrobe**!!!!!"

"Okay…**_That_** does it!!!! You **MUST** die!!!!" Sakura managed to say amongst all of her giggles.

She went over to the counter to see what else her dad had left her for supper. Sweet and sour chicken. Pretty soon, Tomoyo was wearing a reddish-orange shirt instead of the white shirt she had on before the food fight.

Tomoyo decided to let loose and succumbed to her childish desires. She grabbed the entire bowl of mashed potatoes and soon, Sakura was no longer a brunette. In fact she could have posed as an old woman. Her indignant posture, the rage in her eyes, and her white lumpy hair transformed her into a little old lady.

"Okay, Tomoyo!!!! **YOU ASKED FOR IT!!!!!!!**"

Sakura grabbed the nearest food item, which happened to be frosting, and threw it at Tomoyo. Tomoyo ducked, but Sakura still heard the sickening SHHLOOP as frosting made contact with flesh. Sakura stood wide-eyed, staring at the new comer in the kitchen. Sakura sweatdropped.

"Oh…H-Hiii-Hi D-Da-Dad…Wh-What ar-are y-you doing h-home sssso early?" Sakura's dad sweatdropped.

"Sakura, my meeting got out early, so I thought I'd come home and eat the dinner I so **painstakingly** prepared for my **favorite** daughter this morning. I thought it would be a **treat** to eat dinner with my **favorite** daughter, but seeing as how she, a friend and the **ENTIRE** kitchen are covered in mashed potatoes and sweet and sour sauce (not that you aren't showing the best pride-only slinging foods that were the colors of our country), I'm beginning to wish I had stayed at work…I had some unfinished business that I could have attended to, and in fact, I think I'll go finish it. And this kitchen better be **SPOTLESS** by the time I walk through this door again at exactly eight o'clock. **GOT IT**?!"

Sakura and Tomoyo nodded sheepishly.

"**Good**." And with that he left. 

Sakura surveyed the damage. There was mashed potato on the clock, which now read five 'till six. There was sweet and sour sauce strewn across all of the kitchen cabinets. 

"We have our work cut out for us, don't we?"

"Speaking of work, we never did get started on it…You are the best person to hang around if you don't want any work to be done, Sakura."

"Thank you," she replied while taking a low bow. " I really and truly am the queen of procrastination! We can worry about the project tomorrow, it's not due until…" She paused and thought. "…until…"

"It's due at the end of this week. And for those of us who have been out in la-la land for the explanation of our project…today is **_MONDAY_** and the project is due **_FRIDAY_**."

Sakura did not say anything. She wanted to contribute to the cleaning up of the kitchen. She didn't want to do anything that would make it look any worse. She was in enough trouble as it was. Her father was kind and forgiving, but as he always said, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness." Sakura knew this was one area where debate would do no good. When her father said "spotless" he meant that the kitchen not only should be free of any flying food debris, but also any mud that had been tracked in during the week and had escaped cleaning. He also meant any food crumbs that might have been from something eaten even a month ago and hadn't been claimed by a rodent. After an hour and a half of thorough scrubbing and mopping, Sakura stepped back and once again surveyed the kitchen.

"I pronounce this kitchen clean."

"**YAY!!!** You ready to work on our project then?"

Sakura shot a look at Tomoyo which would have put a forest fire on ice. Tomoyo took the hint and packed up and went home. She did not, however, forget any of the occurrences of the night. "Just you wait, Sakura…You will see what you can do to pay me back for all of the things you have done and said tonight."

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Well…what did you think?

Read and review, and if you review, I'll e-mail you when I get the new chapter up.

p.s. you will note I did not use any Japanese in my story. I do not know many phrases and find it agitating when I don't understand what on earth they said… I promise not to use Japanese. 

I know, I know, this is supposed to be a romantic story… just keep your pants on…it's coming…

You will also note that the characters will never cuss…that's a major pet peeve of mine and I intend to keep my stories clean for those who-like me-are really turned off by that kind of stuff…

So review PLEASE!!!! If I don't get at least five reviews, I won't write another chapter…no duplications on reviews however…


	2. Ten more days

You know the drill...

I don't own Card Captor Sakura, I just own this story-line-the sad pathetic events they are-they are my life...literally 

*Tanya pops up* 

*Adrienne tries to stifle her* it doesn't work.

Tanya ~ I want to co-write!!!!

Adrienne ~ NO!!! I'M DOING FINE ON MY OWN!!!

Tanya ~ Then I want to work on the next story you write!!!!

Adrienne ~ We'll see about that…

Tanya ~ And now, on with the story!!!!

Adrienne ~ HEY!!!! THAT'S MY LINE!!!!!

Tanya ~ Hurry!!! Read before she kills me!!!!

Thank you all for reviewing!!!! YOU LOVE ME, YOU REALLY LOVE ME!!!

Thanks to the following for reviewing:

Ayrki

Sakura&Li 4ever

Daidouji Tomoyo

CrystalSakura

liz

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last chapter:

"I pronounce this kitchen clean."

"YAY!!! You ready to work on our project then?"

Sakura shot a look at Tomoyo which would have put a forest fire on ice. Tomoyo took the hint and packed up and went home. She did not, however, forget any of the occurrences of the night. "Just you wait, Sakura...You will see what you can do to pay me back for all of the things you have done and said tonight." 

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Chapter 2: 10 more days...

"Sakura!!!!!! Wake up or you are going to be late for school!!!" A small furry creature commonly called Kero was yanking Sakura's hair.

"**OUCH!!!!! THAT HURT!!!!**" Sakura threw her pillow at Kero. "Tomoyo was right, if only your aim was as good as some of your dreams are." Sakura threw another pillow at the flying Kero, knocking him against the wall. "How do you like that?"

From beneath the pillow came the muffled reply, "I'd like it just fine if only you'd get up and get going w/out being late."

Sakura glanced at the clock. "**WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT I ONLY HAD 15 MINUTES TO GET READY????!!!!!!!**"

"It was kind of hard to do since I had a **pillow** thrown at me before I could make a sensible remark."

Sakura practically tore through her closet, pulled her uniform out, shoved the thing over her head, ran a brush through her hair, raced down the stairs, scarffed down an entire piece of toast, jammed her feet into her blades, and soared out of the house after hurriedly saying "Good morning, I love you, Goodbye" somewhere between all four bites. 

She was not late for school, but she wasn't early either. She dashed into the classroom and took her seat in front of Syaoran Li, who was in her opinion, the **_cutest_** hunk that ever walked the face of the Earth. 

Sakura turned around to talk to Syaoran, but right at that moment, Mrs. Fuji came in and assigned the classwork for that day.

The day flew by, with all of the work they were assigned.

"Don't forget that your projects are due this Friday. Sakura, there are **no** excuses for you this time. You are paired up with Tomoyo, so there is **no** reason for you to forget **or** **_procrastinate_**." 

Sakura gulped. "Yes, Mrs. Fuji." She knew she needed to shape up or her grade would slip and she'd have to quit cheerleading. She was not too keen on that idea, so she reminded Tomoyo about their plans to meet after school at Tomoyo's house. 

The bell rang, and before Sakura could turn around to finally talk to Syaoran, Tomoyo grabbed her and dragged her out of the classroom. She wouldn't let go until they were all the way to Tomoyo's house. 

"We **NEED** to start on our project Sakura!!!! Especially since we didn't get **_any_ **of it done yesterday!!!"

"Okay, okay. But you do need to clue me in on what our project is about."

Tomoyo sweatdropped. "We are **doing** our project on an **earthquake** that hit a small country called **Armenia** about a decade ago. The **country** was part of the **Soviet Union** (**_Tell me_** you **_remember_** what Mrs. Fuji taught us about the Soviet Union, Sakura). Does **_any_** of this jog your memory?"

"Okay, but what are we supposed to do for the project?"

"Create a model of the country, the type of houses they had, and the type of fault that caused the earthquake." (A.N. I had to do a report on this particular earthquake, but it wasn't near this much fun!! I had to do analysis and everything! BLAH!!!!)

"Okay, so what do we need to do today, and what can I do to help?"

"For starters, you can get on the internet and look up the different information we are going to need to make all this stuff, like what their houses were like, the fault type, and don't forget a map of the country. I'm going to the grocery store to get the ingredients we will need for the dough we'll use to make the models."

"We're gonna make the models out of food?!!!"

Tomoyo rolled her eyes. "It's something like salt and flour and glue, so I don't advise eating it."

"How come I get the technical work and you get to go shopping? You know the computer is out to get me, and the printer simply **_hates_** my guts!!! How do you expect me to get anything done if the computer and the printer won't work with me?"

"Just relax. The computer doesn't hate you, that's **_my_** job!" Tomoyo grinned. Sakura hated it when Tomoyo kidded around like that. 

"Well then, I'd better go before it gets dark!" And with that, Tomoyo disappeared through the door and was gone. 

Sakura went over to the desk where the computer was and just stared at it. It was a cruel monster, cold, and hard. It's face was black and lifeless. _"Just great!"_ thought Sakura. _"It's off. I wonder how the heck you turn this merciless creature on."_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Thirty minutes later Tomoyo walked through her front door.

"Oooooohh, Tomoooooooooooooyoooooooooooo!" Sakura cooed sweetly. "GET YOUR BUTT IN HERE AND SHOW ME HOW TO WORK THIS STUPID MACHINE!!!!!!!!!" she finished, not so sweetly.

"Sakura, I thought for sure that you would be okay for at least a few minutes alone with the computer. Okay, okay. What do you need help with?"

"How do you turn this on?" Sakura asked sheepishly.

Tomoyo sweatdropped before falling backwards anime style. _"This is going to be the longest night of my life," _she thought. "Okay, I have all the ingredients we need. Since you are THAT computer illiterate, you make the dough and I'll do the research."

Five minutes later… "Done!" exclaimed Tomoyo. 

"You mean that in a fraction of the time it took me to figure out how to turn that thing 

on-"

"You DIDN'T figure out how to turn the computer on...I had to show you."

"Anywho, all that time, and then in five minutes, you have all of the information we need for the entire project?"

"Yep! I'm just good like that. Is the dough ready?"

"Yeah, it's ready. How are we going to make it hard?" 

"We let it sit out overnight, or as long as it takes to dry."

Suddenly the phone rang. 

"**I'LL GET IT!!!!!!!!!!**" yelled Tomoyo as she trampled Sakura on her way to the phone.

"What is all the excitement for? Are you expecting Eriol to call you and ask you to the homecoming dance that's coming up?"

"**SHUT UP ABOUT THAT**, Sakura!!!!!" Tomoyo shouted at the top of her lungs, as she continued to lunge at the phone. She grabbed the phone off the receiver and anxiously and-amazingly enough after all of the aforementioned commotion- calmly said "Hello?" By the look on Tomoyo's face, the caller was exactly who she had hoped it was.

"Yes, it's just like I told you earlier...What, you don't believe me?...Okay, sure...I'll test it..." Tomoyo turned around and looked at Sakura. She had but two words to say to fulfill (A.N. I looked that word up...that's how you spell it...although it has an alternate spelling that is just as correct: fulfil...don't ask me... I didn't write the English language) the test that lay before her. "Syaoran Li." Sakura turned as red as is possible.

"I was right...Yes, I know what I'm doing...Yes she is in the room with me...Yes, I think it will work...I know it will be perfect...Oh, would you please?...Thank you ever so much...See you tomorrow at school...Bye."

Sakura stared at Tomoyo in utter confusion. (A.N. Remember how dense she is). "What was that all about?" stammered Sakura.

"Well, you'll just have to wait and find out then won't you?"

"Knowing you and your conniving schemes, yes. I will have to wait until you are ready. You don't part w/ your plans very easily do you?"

"Nope! Now on to bigger and better things, or at least things that we need to move on to, or things that are due this week, or...something like that."

"Yes, our project." Tomoyo looked at Sakura and started giggling. "What are you giggling about? Your little secret plan?" Tomoyo could no longer hold it in and started busting out laughing. 

"**WHAT IS SO FUNNY?**" demanded Sakura.

"Look down."

Sakura glanced down. What she saw twisted her face with horror. While Tomoyo was talking on the phone, Sakura had listened in shock. Without her realizing it, she lost concentration on the bowl of dough in her arms. The dough had dripped down the front of her shirt and pants and had dripped onto her shoes and the floor. Sakura blushed slightly. "My shirt..." she moaned. 

"Come on...Let's get you cleaned up. You're no good to me anyway...You always create a mess and ruin what little work we do. You might as well go home after you get cleaned up...It's almost eight o'clock. And by the way, the dough that dripped on your shoes has started to dry."

Sakura stared at her shoes and began to moan... "My school shoes! If I ruin these, my dad will **KILL** me!" She started to move towards the stairs to go to the bathroom to get cleaned up when it happened. Sakura slipped on all of the dough that had collected on the floor. **_WHAAAP. CRRRRRRRAAAAAAACK. SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH. _**

With a few sickening sound effects, the kitchen and Sakura were instantly drenched with the dough. 

"**UUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.** This is **_not_** my week for cleanliness."

Tomoyo had been watching all of this and had been able to hold her laughter in until Sakura spoke. Tomoyo broke into a fit of laughter that would have continued for centuries if she hadn't heard what Sakura had to say next.

"Tomoyo, I think some of the glass from the bowl cut me. It really, really, really hurts."

Tomoyo rushed to Sakura's side, careful of the **_slippery_ **dough-covered floor. 

"I think it cut into my stomach."

Tomoyo gently turned Sakura over onto her back, then lifted Sakura's shirt up enough to examine her abdomen. There was a large slit in her belly from her sternum (that hard bone between your ribs in the middle of your chest) to her navel (belly button).

"Sakura, we need to take you to the emergency room."

"I'll be fine w/a few Band-Aids."

"Sakura, I'm thinking more along the lines of stitches."

Sakura's face stretched w/a look of horror. She tried to prop herself up from her position of flat on the floor on her back, but the pain forced her to lay back down.

"Hang on Sakura, and stay calm. It's not **_that_ **bad," she lied, trying to keep her friend as calm as she could. "I'm going to go get the car, and I'll take you to the hospital. Not that your wound is that bad and all, but they might want to check and make sure that there's no glass still in there." It took all of Tomoyo's strength and willpower to remain calm. "Can you get up, do you think? Could you maybe walk to the car?" The look of pain on Sakura's face as she attempted to prop herself up a little told Tomoyo the answer. "Hang on...I'm gonna call Syaoran to come help me."

"Tomoyo, under ordinary circumstances, I'd object...but since I'm here lying on the floor unable to move, I'll comply to your wishes."

"I am much obliged."

"This wasn't part of your devious little plan, now was it?" Sakura joked, attempting to calm herself down to help slow the blood flow to the wound, and to keep Tomoyo calm and cool and collected so she could do her stuff.

Tomoyo called the hospital to explain what had happened and to tell them that she would be on her way, and it would be quicker for her to drive Sakura than to have an ambulance come pick her up. Besides, she explained, it wasn't **_that_ **bad.

Tomoyo then called Syaoran, and within about 30 seconds of hanging up, he was there, ready to help.

"Syaoran, I need you to pick Sakura up and put her in the car so I can take her to the hospital."

Syaoran lifted her up, ever so gently, treating her as if she were some priceless glass figurine. He was very careful, afraid that she might crumble to angel dust (A.N. like the dust of angels, not the street name for the drug...ugh...**people!**)at any moment. She was so lifeless; she was merely trying to hold as still as possible: it hurt less when she moved. He was going to place her in the backseat of the car, when he realized he couldn't do that without causing her more pain. Tomoyo saw his predicament and sized up the situation instantly. 

"You're going to have to sit back there with her. You are going to have to cradle her just like you're doing in order to cushion the bumps we may experience. Plus you don't want to move her too much. When we get to the hospital, you'll have to carry her in, so by doing this we will save time."

(A.N. you may think that the speech about saving time actually wasted time, but by the time she had finished her little speech, they were half-way to the hospital. She continued her speech even after Syaoran got in the car and they were on their way simply because the talking and explaining would keep her alert and thinking straight to pay attention to her driving. It also helped calm her down.)

They arrived at the hospital where there were doctors and a stretcher waiting. 

"**I'M NOT IN THAT BAD OF SHAPE, AM I?**" Sakura screeched in panic.

"No, you're not that bad," Syaoran reassured her. "They are just here to make sure that you are perfectly fine. They have to do this...I think it's the law or something. They have to treat every emergency as if it were life-threatening, just in case it turns out to be."

"**LIFE-THREATENING?**" By now, Sakura was in a full-blown panic.

"Great going Syaoran," called Tomoyo from the front seat.

Tomoyo pulled the car up to the waiting doctors. She stood there impatiently waiting for Syaoran to get out of the backseat when she realized that his arms were a bit, how shall we say, preoccupied. She shook herself back into reality and opened the door for Syaoran. He got out of the car, very carefully, trying to jostle Sakura as little as possible. He gingerly laid her down on the stretcher that the doctors rushed down to them with. The doctors wheeled her into the emergency room with great speed. A nurse came out and escorted the two left inside.

"I need you to fill out some paperwork for me...Are you family?"

"**OHMYGOSH!!!!!!!!!! I FORGOT TO CALL SAKURA'S DAD!!!!!**"

"Here, you can use the phone at the desk. Young man, are you related to this girl?"

"No, ma'am. I'm a friend from school."

"And her? Is she related to this girl?"

"No, ma'am. She's her best friend though."

"It is very late, and as soon as her father shows up, I suggest you go home and get some sleep. She is in good hands, and your staying and worrying will not do anything to help except putting pressure on the staff, and believe me, that's a bad thing."

Within about 2 minutes, Sakura's dad showed up, and Tomoyo took Syaoran home, only after Sakura's dad promised that he would call them the minute things improved. The nurse corralled Sakura's dad over to the nurses' station where he began filling out paperwork.

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I know that's a dirty spot to leave you, but I wanted it to go day by day, and this happens to be the end of this day...

You know the drill...read and review...

*Tanya pops up again*

Tanya ~ good!!!!!!!!!!!!! I still wanna co-write your next story!!!!!!!!

Adrienne ~ there won't be another story unless I think that people like my stuff and the only way I'll know is if they read and review!!!!!!

Until next time!!!!!!!!


	3. Nine Days Left

I know I left you at a bad spot last time, but the prize that you receive today was well worth the wait...You'll see what I mean...

*Tanya pops up*

Adrienne ~ Again? I'm going to have to have new locks installed on the doors...all of them...

Tanya ~ I'm not THAT bad, am I?

Adrienne ~ No, *gives Tanya a hug* I'm sorry...

Tanya ~ Now it's time to tell the people that you don't own Card Captor Sakura

Adrienne ~ *weeps bitterly* if I did, I wouldn't need to write these stories, they'd be made into episodes...*grins evilly at the thought* 

Tanya ~ Now on to today...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Chapter 3--- 9 Days left...

Sakura lazily opened here eyes and glanced at the clock beside her bed. It was way past time for her to get up. In fact, she was already late for school. _"Arggggghhhhh. Why didn't Kero wake me up?"_ she thought. She closed her eyes and dozed off to sleep again. She was already late, what would another 10 minutes matter? 20 minutes later, she rolled over and glanced at the clock again. "**KERO!!!**" she shouted. He was not acting like himself. Normally he would have done anything to keep her from being late. This morning should have been no different.

"Who's Kero, Honey?" came a voice from somewhere beside her.

Startled, Sakura turned to see who was in her room. She looked around and realized it was her father sitting in a leather chair. Wait...A **leather chair**? She didn't have any of those in her bed room...And the walls were bleach white...The room was bright, and yet was dark due to the curtains drawn over the window. She realized she could see all of this because her bed was tilted...Her bed wasn't built to prop the occupant up...Where was she?

"Where am I?" she whined.

"Honey, don't you remember anything from last night? You broke a bowl over at Tomoyo's house and gave yourself a good cut on your stomach."

Sakura tried to sit up, and quickly found what her dad had said to be true as a blinding pain shot through her system. She lay back down and the pain somewhat subsided.

"It hurts bad, Dad."

"I know. Dr. Shays has you on pain killers, but they can only do so much. You need to rest and let your body do what it does best...rebuild."

"What did Dr. Shays say? How bad was my cut? How long will I have to stay here? What did they have to do to me? When can I have visitors?"

"Hold up, Princess. I think those are questions Dr. Shays should answer. And speaking of Dr. Shays, I think it's high time he knew you were awake." He pressed the button on the hospital bed to call for the nurse.

"Yes, is there anything wrong?"

"No, this is Fujitaka Kinomoto, Sakura Kinomoto's father. She has just woken up."

"Thank you, sir. I'll tell Dr. Shays right away and he will be in there very soon to see how Sakura is doing."

Sakura's father turned to look at Sakura. "Tell me what happened last night. How on Earth did you manage to cut yourself on a glass bowl."

"It might take a while..."

"You know those doctors...They are never on time. We have a while to wait."

"Well, Tomoyo has some sort of a plan or something...Anywho, she was talking on the phone—no I have no idea who it was—and she turned to me and said this guy's name and I turned beet red."

"Was it Syaoran?"

How do dads always know what's going on? Sakura turned tomato red. "Yes"

"And I'm guessing that you turned this same shade of red."

"Da-ad...Who's telling this story? Me or you?"

"Continue, Sweetie."

"Yes, I turned the same shad of red. You know I was over there working on a project—that earthquake thing that I forgot to tell you about and by the way the project is due this Friday—anywho, my job was first on the computer downloading stuff from the internet—but you know how much computers **_hate_** me and this was one of those very new, **hi-tech** computers—while she went shopping for ingredients—we are going to make models of the earthquake: like the country (which is Armenia by the way) and its physical features, and the fault type, and the kind of buildings the people lived in. Those buildings were concrete slabs held together by metal pins and they just collapsed in the earthquake, killing thousands, and Daddy, the Soviet government did almost **nothing** to help them rebuild! Anywho, when Tomoyo got back from the store, she found me staring at the computer. Dad, I couldn't even get the thing to come on!!! I couldn't find the button, and I must have punched every single one on that thing! I **TOLD** you computers hate me...Anywho, so I was given the task of making the dough since I couldn't make the computer behave. That's when she got the phone call. She did the whole Syaoran thing—now **_don't_** say a word Daddy!! I **_don't_** want to hear it!!! So she continues her conversation and I drip the dough I'm holding in my arms all over my shirt and shoes...**All over my good school shoes**!! And all Tomoyo could do was laugh. She told me to go get cleaned up and to go home since I wasn't able to keep from making a mess. So I tried to move to go somewhere where I could clean myself up, and I slipped on the dough that had managed to find its way under my feet on the floor. I still had the bowl—the one we gave them for Christmas a few years ago; it had flowers on it, remember Daddy? Anywho, I had the bowl in my arms—actually by the time I started slipping it was up in the air, headed on a crash course with the floor. It crashed and shattered into a thousand pieces, just before I landed on them. Luckily, it broke into really, really big pieces...I saw the pieces as I was leaving. Anywho, the dough went **EVERYWHERE!!!** Oh, it **WAS** a mess Daddy. You wouldn't have been surprised at all though, would you have? You're used to me making a mess everywhere I go. Anywho, so I fell on the broken glass and it cut me! I have no idea how deep it cut, but **MAN DID IT HURT!!!!** By the way it doesn't hurt near as much now. Tomoyo called the hospital and told them we were on our way. But then she realized that she couldn't lift me up to put me in her car, and I couldn't get up off the floor to get into the car, so she had to call Syaoran to come and help. **Imagine** my embarrassment Daddy!! Syaoran has to come over and see me covered **head to toe** in dough, and he has to lift me up off the floor and carry me to the car. I could tell he was trying to be careful, but he really wasn't. It hurt more and more with each step he took!! And the ride in the car was **worse**!!! I had to lay curled in his arms with my butt resting on his lap so he wouldn't have to move me as much—you know, like putting me down in the car, then having to pick me up again at the hospital to get me out of the car—and I could tell he was trying to keep his arms still so he wouldn't move me, but with each bump of the car, his arms **_would _**move, and it really, **REALLY** hurt!!! I think you'll be okay on the rest of the details."

"We may not know how deep it cut, but we know for a **FACT** that it didn't puncture **EITHER** of your **LUNGS!!!**" He was still amazed at his daughter's ability to tell a story so...how shall we say...**COMPLETELY**.

Dr. Shays appeared in the doorway. "Well hello, Sakura. Glad to see you awake! How are you feeling?"

"Fine...Much better than last night..."

"That's good to hear."

"So, what did you have to do?"

"We had to go in and remove several pieces of glass from your abdomen. Twenty-two, to be precise. Many of them were very small, but the one that slit you is more than likely still in the kitchen. Luckily, they all missed your organs. There may still be a few pieces in you, but they are very minute. They may hurt though. They shouldn't be very deep, and if they surface, they will come out on their own, but if they bother you, you can take a needle and some tweezers and pull them out that way."

Sakura nodded with a painful expression on her face._ "Pieces of glass are still inside of me?"_ She realized that she wouldn't be able to distinguish the pain caused by the glass splinters from the large cut until it healed.

"What about my cut?"

"Ah, yes. You had to have seventy stitches to close up the wound. (A.N. if this sounds unreasonable for a cut from your belly button to your sternum-that place where your ribs come together in the middle of your chest, then tell me in a review, or email me and I will be sure to put the corrected figures in).

"**SEVENTY STITCHES??!!!**" Sakura fainted.

"Let her rest Mr. Kinomoto. She needs all the sleep she can get to help her heal. As long as the monitors read normal, she'll be fine."

"She had asked about visitors."

"Yes, I figured she would. She has a bundle of gifts waiting for her in the lobby. They'll be brought up soon. And that boy in the waiting room is dying to see her. She can have visitors if after she wakes up she's feeling okay. I'll want to come in and see how she's doing before that, though. This bought of sleep will make her ready to have visitors, I think. But I don't want any before she wakes. She is to sleep until she wakes up on her own."

"I understand Doctor."

Two hours later, Sakura opened her eyes to a room that was no longer dull and dreary. No, there were far too many balloons-all bearing the phrase "Get Well Soon!" on them-and flower arrangements. 

"Oh, good, Sweetheart, you're awake."

"Are...Are these all for m-m-me?" she managed to stammer. 

"Yes. You are the lady of the hour. Apparently, word traveled a lot faster than I thought was possible."

"You have to take into consideration the size of Tomoyo's mouth!!!"

Her father chuckled. "I guess you're right. Are you feeling well enough to have visitors? A certain boy has been waiting all day to see you and know that you're okay. I told him you were, but he wouldn't take my word. He wanted to see you for himself."

Sakura felt heat rise to her cheeks. _"Syaoran's here? Waiting to see **me**? He came to see how I am? He's been waiting all day? It's only noon!! How did he manage to get out of school to come see me?"_

"Yes. I feel up to having visitors."

"I'll call for Dr. Shays. He wanted to give you the once over and make sure you're body is ready to handle visitors."

After gaining approval from Dr. Shays, the boy who had waited all day to see Sakura burst into the room.

"**SAKURA!!!**" He ran over to her bedside and flung his arms around her neck.

Sakura only looked at him with a surprised, yet painful look on her face. "Touya! Let...go...of...me...before...you...kill...me...!" she managed to gasp.

(A.N. I know it was wrong of me to mislead you, but I never gave you my word that it **WAS **Syaoran. Sakura thought it was. Besides, it's fun to mislead the audience.)

He quickly let go and studied her disappointed face. "You were expecting that Chinese brat, weren't you? He showed up early this morning, but since they wouldn't even let me—your one and only brother—because they thought I might try and wake you—"

"Kill me is more like it," mumbled Sakura.

"...I told him to go to school and come back later. Besides, you know I don't like him hanging around you, especially you are in the hospital and all..."

Sakura's heart soared. Syaoran had been there this morning, trying to see if she was okay. Then her heart did the crash-and-burn. Touya had sent him away. She knew that underneath his tough act, Touya really adored her, and would do anything for her, and that he was only trying to protect her, but sometimes he could be so overprotective. Like she needed two fathers.

Touya kept her company for the three hours that remained until Sakura's friends would be out of school and there at the hospital to visit her. They played Chutes and Ladders, and countless games of tic-tac-toe and checkers. Sakura noticed that she "conveniently" won every single game.

Finally three o'clock rolled around and Sakura knew that the bell was ringing at school to release her friends from school. At exactly 3:01, her room looked like the mall on the day after Thanksgiving (^_^). She got hugs from everyone who entered the room. She looked around, however, and couldn't find Syaoran, Tomoyo, and Eriol. She forgot about it soon though, with all the attention she was getting from everyone present.

Sakura was shocked to hear the rumors that had spread concerning her accident. She had broken a bowl and a piece went right through her and came out the other side. She had eaten the dough and her stomach was glued together so the doctors had to remove it. She had been in a car wreck and had gone through the windshield. She had been attacked by a bear. The list went on and on, getting stranger and stranger. All of a sudden there was a hush and all twenty voices (can you imagine 20 people in a hospital room?) chirped up, "What **REALLY** happened, Sakura?"

She told them the lengthy story—leaving the part about Syaoran out, of course. There were ooh's and ah's as she told them how many stitches she had. After about thirty minutes, the crowd began to run out of things to tell her, so they began to trickle out of the room in groups of about twos or threes. After they left, Sakura's father re-entered. She didn't realize he had left. She didn't blame him. The chaos was almost too much for her as well. 

"You have another batch of visitors, Sakura."

"Tell them to come back in an hour or so. I can't take another round of that."

"Sure, Sweetie. I'm not going to put you through anything you can't handle. Go to sleep and rest, Doctor's orders. You **MUST** be exhausted. I mean you did break a bowl and have a piece of that glass go **ALL THE WAY THROUGH YOU**, so you had to eat some of that dough to **glue your stomach back together**, but it made you sick, so Tomoyo had to take you to the hospital, but on the way there, you had a **car wreck** and **went through the windshield,** and while waiting for the ambulance, you were **attacked by a bear**. You **_deserve_** about an hour of sleep." Her father grinned as Sakura laughed.

"Da-ad!! Don't do that!!! It hurts!!!" she cried as she clutched her stomach, trying to hold her laughter in.

She finally calmed down and got her hour of peaceful sleep. She woke up, feeling fully refreshed. After all, just how much sleep can a girl get in one day? She found her father in what she was now considering to be his "usual" spot-in the leather chair beside her bed. He had fallen asleep reading a book.

"Dad," she whispered.

Her father instantly woke up. Fathers have instincts about these things...somehow they do...They know to sleep very lightly, just in case their precious angel-daughters might need something—especially when they are sick in the hospital.

"Yes, Pumpkin?"

"I'm ready for my other batch of visitors, that is if they are still here and haven't gone home..."

"Now, why would they do that? You know that Tomoyo, Eriol, and Syaoran have been the most worried about you...Why would they go home and risk not seeing you during visiting hours?"

"**SYAORAN AND TOMOYO AND ERIOL ARE HERE? THEY ARE MY NEXT BATCH OF VISITORS? WHY ON EARTH DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?**"

"You didn't ask...You **DID** say you didn't think you could handle any more visitors..."

"Yeah, but they are my best friends...I'd see them even if I was tuckered out!!!!"

"I guess that means I'd better go get them...Besides you yelling like that is **NOT** good for your recuperation."  


Sakura knew he was right—as always.

"Oh, Sakura!!!! I am sooooo glad to see you are alright!!!" exclaimed Tomoyo as she rushed in the room. Syaoran and Eriol followed her in the room and cleared their throats, letting Tomoyo know that she had left them out. "Oh, and Stan and Ollie are glad to see you too."

"Who?"

"Stan and Ollie. The great American comedy duo," explained Eriol. Sakura merely stared at them with a blank look on her face.

"She was referring to the way Eriol and I goofed off in the waiting room, waiting for you to wake up," Syaoran explained.

"It was **hilarious**!!! You should have been there!!! It was like having the Ringling Brothers' Circus for entertainment. I didn't know you could sleep so long Sakura, after all, that's about all you did all day from what I hear..."

"Tomoyo, you are such a kidder...I did sleep a lot...It's mainly because I'm on so much pain killers." She pointed to the IV hooked up over her bed.

"Ahh...Okay, then...I forgive you. You know I was only joking anyhow. Syaoran has something for you too, **_don't you_** Syaoran?"

Syaoran turned a bright red, almost as red as the dozen roses he pulled out from behind his back to give her. Sakura matched his shade, if not redder. Syaoran also gave her a box of chocolate covered cherries. "I know they are your favorites." 

"So cuuuuuuuuuuute!!!!!!!!!" squealed Tomoyo.

At this, they both turned an even deeper shade of red (if that is possible).

Before anymore could be said, a nurse walked into the room and said, "Miss Kinomoto, you have ten more minutes with your guests. Visitors hours are soon to be over. Your father, however, is going to spend the night. After your guests leave, they are going to bring in a cot for him."

"Thank you," was the reply. The nurse left to go attend to other patients and wrap up visiting hours.

"So, Sakura, how bad was it?" asked Syaoran.

"Well, the glass missed my organs, but they had to remove twenty-two pieces of glass, and they said I may be pulling glass splinters out for quite a while. And it took seventy stitches to close up my wound. I'd show you, but these hospital gowns don't exactly allow me to do that." She turned a slight shade of pink.

"We wouldn't want you to do that," said Syaoran, matching her shade of pink.

"We hope you get to feeling better Sakura...We'll come by right after school to see you tomorrow...Now come on **_gentlemen_**..." said Tomoyo, dragging her entourage out the door.

The rest of the day was spent in boredom...but not without the best sweets Sakura had ever tasted, the best being the ones Syaoran had given her...It was true...Her favorite type of chocolate **WAS** chocolate covered cherries.

Her father soon came in though, and took all of her chocolates and put them in a chair, well away from her reach. "I'm putting a note on it...Just so that you can't talk any nurses into giving you that chocolate. You need to eat some healthy food to give your body energy to heal."

Soon it was time for bed. The doctor had come in three or four more times to see how Sakura was doing. Sakura remembered to ask him how long she would have to stay, and he had told her that if everything was fine, she could leave the hospital the following afternoon. Sakura drifted off to sleep that night, reliving what had happened that day. It was those sweet memories that filled her head as she drifted into dreamland.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

I hope you liked that as much as I did...I hope you don't get too mad about misleading you on who was waiting for Sakura, but to me, it's half the fun of writing these things...

If you think **THAT** was mushy, then you need to keep reading, 'cause y'all ain't seen nothin' yet. Like I told you, I am twisting around the few experiences I've had, making them into the way I wish they were...A bit of the mush has happened to me...although I have yet to see those roses or chocolates from **ANY** guy (and I'm 16, y'all...), but I'll keep waiting...(P.S. yes, I am from the South, I live in Mobile, AL, if that means anything to anybody, but don't let that turn y'all off, because I pride myself in my correct grammar...I only twist words for emphasis)

Tanya ~ Time for shameless promotion!!! I'm writing a story called "The Beach" and yeah, I know there are about a hundred stories called "The Beach"...mine is the only one worth reading, though...but be sure you read the one by CrystalSakura!!!!

Adrienne ~ You have done your promotion...Are you happy?

Tanya ~ Yes, I'm happy!!!

Adrienne ~ Good...Okay audience, here's your favorite part—my bad—**_my_** favorite part...Reading your reviews!!!!!!! Please send reviews!!!!!!!!!!!


	4. Eight more days

Sorry it has been so long...I think you may understand when you see the length of the chapter...

BTW...I don't own C.C.S...I wish I did though...

For all of you who were wondering when the dance would come into the plot...your patience will reward you...It was coming...You just had to wait for it...

Chapter 4: 8 Days to go

Tomoyo raced to school. She wasn't late, but she wanted to be at school early. She had a plan, and it was high time that plan went into action. As she approached the school, she saw Chelsea, Zach, and Rika grouped near the double doors that led into the school. She hurried over and joined them.

"Chelsea, have you filled everyone else in on the course of action?"

"Yes, but are you positive, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this will work?"

"Like I told you on the phone, she turned **beat red** when I said his name. In fact, I almost feel bad because our conversation indirectly put Sakura where she is now...But you know me! I'm using today without her to my advantage!"

Chelsea grinned and the rest of the group agreed. It wasn't complicated, but it was important for everyone to be on the same page.

"Okay, here he comes. Now remember, the plan waits until class starts. He can't escape then." Tomoyo was all jittery, purely from pleasure. Her plan would be **perfect**. They would react **perfectly**...eventually. Everything was working according to plan...**Perfect**...

Since Syaoran had joined them, nothing more was mentioned on the subject, as the conversation drifted towards what was due that day and the horrors of Mrs. Fuji.

Later that day, after math was done and science had yet to start, they had a momentary break from studies. Tomoyo nodded her head, making eye contact with Rika, Chelsea, and Zach. It was finally time to put her plan into motion.

"So, are you going to ask Sakura to the **Homecoming** **Dance** coming up next week?" True, Tomoyo was blunt, but at least she didn't waste time pussyfooting around a question.

Syaoran turned a bright red. "I-I-I wasn't p-planning on it," he managed to stammer. 

"Oooh, come on!" squealed Rika. "We all know you two make the **cutest** couple!"

"Yeah, come **ON** Syaoran! We all **KNOW** she likes you, and it's **OBVIOUS** you like her too..." chimed Chelsea.

Syaoran turned to his good buddy Zach, his eyes pleading for him to save him from this female trap, but got the surprise of his life when Zach merely agreed. "You know you want to ask her out! And it's not like you have anything else to do next Friday night...The school isn't dumb enough to schedule a soccer match that night, so you can't use **THAT** copout!"

By this time, all eyes in the classroom were on Syaoran who was as red as it gets. We're talking blood-red. Mrs. Fuji even ventured into the subject as well. "Syaoran, you can't deny staring at her after you are done with your assignments. I've noticed something going on between you for some time now, and have been wondering just when something will happen. I think it's high time you just asked her out."

Okay, if Syaoran had been expecting **ANYBODY** to tease him about him and Sakura, it **WASN'T** Mrs. Fuji. Her comments were completely unexpected, and caught him completely off guard. If Syaoran was red before Mrs. Fuji's comments, he was maroon by the time she was done. A teacher thought they should be a couple?!! That was against all logic!!!

"I-I-I d-don't th-think sh-she l-likes m-m-me," was all he could muster as a defense.

His defense was quickly shot down. "**YOU DON'T THINK SHE LIKES YOU?!!! DID YOU NOT SEE HOW RED SHE TURNED WHEN YOU BROUGHT HER CANDY AND FLOWERS?!!**" Tomoyo was nearly livid. The rest of the class stared with wide eyes and open mouths. This was new info for them.

"You took her candy and flowers?!! How sweet!!!! You **HAVE** to take her to the dance now!!!" cooed Chelsea.

Right then, Syaoran amazed them all by turning an even deeper shade of red. (Later, some would say that he never turned any deeper shades of red; that was humanly impossible, after all. There were others, however, who swore that he almost turned black-he was so red.) Syaoran buried his face behind a book. He hated being in the spotlight like this. He positively **despised** it.

In desperation, he turned to Mrs. Fuji. "Don't just stand there!!" he yelled. "Do something!!"

"Break extended until Syaoran changes his mind."

Syaoran grimaced. That was **NOT** the kind of help he had in mind. He thought Mrs. Fuji hated this kind of interruption. Since she was apparently on their side, he knew he was all alone on this one.

The class burst into moaning and begging. "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaase?" "You two make **SUCH** a **CUTE** couple!!!" "She **REALLY** likes you. You **KNOW** she does!!!" "You know you like her too!!!" Okay, okay, I know it's not really possible, but Syaoran just sat there—red as could be...possibly getting redder.

After five solid minutes of pleading and begging, he couldn't take it any more. 

"**ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT!!!!! YOU WIN!!!!! I'LL ASK HER!!!!**"

"Today at the hospital when we go to visit her after school." Tomoyo, Syaoran felt, would never be satisfied.

"**NO**! I'll ask her when I'm good and ready." This seemed to satisfy the mob. "If I even ask her at all," he mumbled under his breath. Some people heard his last comment and heaved deep sighs.

They were about to lash into him again when Mrs. Fuji suddenly snapped back into teacher mode. "Okay, he's made up his mind! No more discussion about this! **UNDERSTOOD**?! You have wasted enough of my class time as it is!"

"**NOW** she decides to stop wasting time," mumbled Syaoran.

The rest of the day went without any more interruptions. Syaoran was glad of it too. His face returned to a normal shade, well, except that there was a permanent tinge of pink on his cheeks. He couldn't **BELIEVE** they had all ganged up on him like that!! He knew they had chosen today, purely because Sakura wasn't there, and they could corner him and she wouldn't be able to come to his rescue. He had never been so embarrassed in all his life! All day long, although he could never catch them, he could feel the class's stares boring holes in the back of his head. He didn't know why he had told them that he might not even ask her out at all and why they had had such a hard time convincing him to ask her out. He'd daydreamed for weeks about the Homecoming Dance. He had prepared things to say to ask her out, but in the end they all sounded stupid. Although everyone assured him that she liked him, he felt that she only thought of him as stupid, just like everything he did. Of course, she **HAD** turned red when he gave her those roses...The roses had been his idea, but it had been Tomoyo's idea to give them to her in person...She had refused to let him place the roses in the delivery that the class made to the hospital the previous day.

"Syaoran!! Wake up!!"

Eriol stood in front of him. Wait, Eriol wasn't in his class...He looked around to see an empty classroom. He had fallen asleep in class! He figured it was all Tomoyo's fault. He didn't know how it was, but he figured it was.

"Tomoyo told me you were still in here. She said that she didn't want to wake you up."

"I hope you haven't grown too attached to that girl, Eriol. I may just kill her!"

"You can't kill her! I wouldn't have a date for the Homecoming Dance if you did!"

Syaoran grinned at Eriol with amazement. It was about time he focused on his own love life instead of messing around in Syaoran's.

"So, you've asked her?"

"Not yet, my cute descendent."

"Fine, do your own thing. And don't call me that!!"

Eriol just grinned at Syaoran. "Fine, just so long as you get some work done concerning your love life. When are you going to ask Sakura to the dance anyway?"

"**UUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!**" Why was everyone on his case about the dance? "Maybe as soon as everyone gets off my back about the whole thing!"

"Okay, okay. I can take a hint. Come on, let's go visit her in the hospital."

Syaoran knew what his friend was hinting at, but decided to ignore the nudge. After all, he **had** promised Sakura he would visit her in the hospital right after school. He had delayed that visit with Eriol and the nap he had taken.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Sakura looked impatiently at her clock. 3:00. They would be there any minute. She was anxious to see Syaoran. Immediately, blush rose to her cheeks. She did want to see him. She wanted to tell him everything: the way she enjoyed his company, the way her guts became all twisted when he spoke to her, the way her stomach flip-flopped every time she thought about him.

She glanced again at the clock as it changed to 3:01. As if on cue, her room was instantly filled with people, but only five this time, doctor's orders and all that jazz.

After a few groups of people, Tomoyo finally made her way in, alone.

"I talked to Mrs. Fuji today about our project...You know how she says we have to have everything in on time unless you are on your deathbed and not expected to live? **In spite of all that**, she's letting us turn our project in on Monday!"

"That's good news!"

"Don't tell anyone, though; you **KNOW** they'd go out and injure themselves **JUST** to be able to have some more time for their projects."

"Okay, when shall we work on it then?"

"I don't know..."

Just then Zach walked in.

Sakura cut short her conversation, knowing Zach would be one of the ones Tomoyo was talking about. "I'll call you tonight, then, about that **THING**..."

Zach lit up like a Christmas tree. "What? You mean that thing where **you and Syaoran are going to the Homecoming Dance?**"

Sakura turned a deep red. "**HOE**?!!!" True, she did wish they were going together to the dance...but was it **THAT** obvious that she liked him?

"Oh, wait! He won't be able to take you! Because you have more that ten stitches, they'll have to keep you in a wheelchair until they take the stitches out, and that could be six years from now!!!!"

Sakura yelped and almost totally forgot about his earlier comment about her and Syaoran, figuring he was just lying to her anyway. She hunkered in her bed.

"Zach, stop teasing Sakura. She needs all the rest she can get, and you are **NOT** helping... in fact, why don't you just leave now?" Tomoyo said as she shooed Zach out of the room. Sakura was glad he had left. If he had been allowed to stay, who knows what kind of stories he would tell her next? Probably stories about ghosts and creepy goons from the next dimension. Sakura shuddered at the thought. 

Sakura's dad entered the room just in time to see Sakura shudder.

"Honey, are you sure you're ready to go home? I saw you shiver. Maybe just one more night..."

"**NO**!!!" Sakura replied quickly. "I am **DEFINITELY** ready to leave!!!! I was just thinking about something."

"Okay, pumpkin. Tomoyo, I think it's best if you just go on home."

"Can I help at all?"

"If you want, you can take all of the gifts from Sakura's admirers to our house and arrange them as you see fit."

"Sure!!!" With that, Tomoyo ran around the room like a mad woman gathering all of the gifts. 

Tomoyo ran into Zach as rushed past him on her way out of the hospital. Zach merely dodged her and ran for his life, not wanting to be mistaken for an oversized balloon and then shoved into Tomoyo's trunk.

Soon, after several trips to and from her car, the room was empty. Dr. Shays entered the room and shooed Tomoyo out. He checked Sakura and gave her the okay to go home. Minutes later, a nurse entered the room and unhooked Sakura from all of the monitors, and removed the IV from her wrist. The nurse also brought clothes Tomoyo had gathered for Sakura. Sakura was then left alone to change. After removing her shirt, she looked down at her stomach. It was **_covered_** in bandages...They wrapped all the way around her...She shuddered to think about what had happened, but not too hard because of the pain. She had to be very careful dressing because every time she bent over, a shock was sent through her system, straight to her brain. Soon, she was ready to go.

"Don't do and excessive bending over, don't do any exercising—that means no rollerblading to school. Your dad tells me your school is having a dance next Friday. You may go if you feel well enough, but don't do any wild dancing. Use discretion. Only do what you feel you are up to doing. I have supplied you with enough bandages for your torso for about a week. Change them once a day before you go to bed. You are good to go today, though, because we changed it just a few minutes ago. Come back next Wednesday, and we'll take out those stitches for you."

Sakura nodded as all of this information swirled through her brain. Dr. Shays must have seen the overwhelmed look on her face, because he told her that he had written down her do's and don't's on a piece of paper for her.

Soon, she was home, everything she needed in hand. They had stopped by the pharmacy to pick up the prescription painkillers and antibiotics-to kill any infection that may have entered her body.

Sakura managed to hobble up the stairs to her room and opened the door. 

"**WELCOME** **HOME**!!!!!!!!" Tomoyo greeted her. Her room was filled with all of her gifts from the hospital.

Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs.

After she finally calmed down, she asked, "Where's your car?"

"I left it at my house and walked back. I wanted to surprise you!!!"

"It worked! My stomach!!!" she moaned, clutching her belly which hurt from screaming so loudly.

"Eeep!!" Tomoyo squeaked. "I forgot that you can't scream or anything like that!!!" 

"Some best friend you are!!!"

Tomoyo almost threw a pillow at Sakura, but stopped just in time. She then brightened up all of a sudden and started jumping around as Sakura lay down in her bed.

"**GUESS WHAT!!! GUESS WHAT!!! GUESS WHAT!!!**"

"What? And stop jumping around...You're making me queasy, and you don't want to make me sick."

Tomoyo obediently stopped bouncing. "Eriol asked me to the Homecoming Dance!!!!!!!"

"It's about time!!! I wondered when you two would finally get together!!!"

"I could say the same about you and a certain Chinese boy..."

"**OKAY!! OKAY!!** Continue..."

"Thank you! It was soooo sweet!!! I was walking back over here after I left my car at my house, and Eriol was walking along and met me on the sidewalk. He said something about how he and Syaoran—who was with him—were on their way to see you in the hospital, but I told them you were leaving...Anywho, Eriol all of a sudden gets down on one knee...Imagine how red I was!!! He looked like he was asking me to marry him...His face was just about as serious too!! But he says, 'I'd be much obliged if you would give me the pleasure of taking you to the Homecoming Dance.'"

Sakura giggled, which was all her stomach would allow her to do. "Yep! That sounds like Eriol all right!!"

Tomoyo flopped down on the chair beside Sakura's bed, being careful not to bounce Sakura around. She was just about to drift off into a daydream in la-la land, when Sakura brought her back to earth. 

"Tomoyo, it's nearly six o'clock!! We probably ought to get started on our project!"

"Yeah, especially since we have to make a whole new batch of dough!"

Sakura grimaced. "Don't remind me! **YOU** be in charge of it this time. Put it in a **PLASTIC** bowl and I'll come down and help you as soon as the stuff is ready. I want to take a nap until then."

"Okay."

Her father suddenly popped into the room. "Sakura, I just wanted to see how you were doing! I've got some things at the college to catch up on, and Touya's out on one of his jobs—don't ask me which one! Oh, and here's your little stuffed animal. I found him lying in front of the refrigerator." He tossed Kero to Sakura without thinking that she couldn't move around to try and catch it. Luckily, Tomoyo caught it before anymore damage could occur.

"Thanks, Tomoyo! I owe you one. Dinner's in the fridge, girls, and Sakura, try to take it easy, okay?"

"Yes Daddy!"

He left and instantly, Kero came to life. "**WHERE HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN?!! I'VE HAD NOTHING TO EAT!! YOUR FATHER ALMOST CAUGHT ME TRYING TO BREAK INTO THE FRIDGE!!!!!!**"

Kero threw a pillow at Sakura. Kero then became deaf as a blood curdling scream filled the air. Sakura's dad immediately popped back into the room. (A.N. don't you just love the way people always pop in and out of rooms?) "What in the world happened?"

Tomoyo quickly covered up for Kero. "I was playing around and accidentally threw a pillow at her!"

He seemed satisfied with that answer and left.

"**KERO**!" Sakura fumed as she angrily told Kero the picked-through/Syaoran-parts-left-out story. Kero quickly apologized about the pillow.

"I'm still hungry!!"

"Come on, I'll feed you...Then I'll start on our project, okay, Sakura? Kero, you stay with me. Sakura needs rest, especially after what you did to her!"

Sakura gently began to drift off into dreamland a few minutes after they left.

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Sakura lazily opened one eye. She had rolled over on her side to face the wall while she was asleep. She had no idea how she had accomplished this feat, especially with her stomach being very sensitive to twisting. Then it hit her. How was she going to roll over and get out of her bed? She had gotten out of the hospital bed easily because it tilted to help her out. She decided slowly and carefully would be the best way to roll over. She closed her eyes, preparing for the pain that would come with rolling over. After about five minutes, she lay flat on her back. She rested for another five minutes, allowing the pain to ease away. She then began to roll over to her other side, to face her room. She lay there a while, again recovering from the pain. It helped to keep her eyes closed—she was able to concentrate on the task at hand, as well as block out some of the pain. She slowly scrunched herself up and pushed against the bed to help her sit up. She suddenly felt a breeze. Had Tomoyo left the window open? She sat on the edge of her bed, gathering her strength and blocking out the searing pain. 

After all of the pain subsided, she opened her eyes. She quickly found the source of the breeze. She stared right into a pair of sleeping, closed eyes only a few inches away from her own. She knew if they had been open, they would have been amber pools. She moved carefully away from him...She didn't want to wake him up.

She no longer had the ability to concentrate on anything. A million thoughts were running through her brain and she was sure that everyone in the house could hear her loud heartbeats. She had a million questions as well. The first question that came to mind was _"What is Syaoran doing here at my house at my bedside?"_

She finally lost whatever shred of concentration she ever had. Her body jerked involuntarily. Her leg bumped into his leg, startling him and causing him to jump. His jumping startled Sakura and the force of his jumping jolted her and caused her to fall backwards very violently. She began to writhe in pain as she felt her body sound all alarms and warnings that are related to pain.

Syaoran didn't see any of this happen. By the time he was fully awake and able to comprehend any of his actions, he had already caused the damage. He found Sakura lying on the bed, moaning and clutching her stomach.

"**SAKURA**!!!!" he yelled. _"Oh, no!!! What have I done? I just hurt Sakura!"_ he thought. "Calm down! I'm very sorry!!" He lay his hand on her shoulder and almost instantly her twitching stopped. She lay there for what seemed like an hour, slowly calming down and letting the pain subside. Syaoran never removed his hand from her shoulder.

When all the pain had subsided, Sakura sighed a huge sigh of relief. "I don't suppose you'd help me get up?"

Syaoran blushed slightly, but quickly agreed. "We don't want you to do **THAT** again!" He lifted her up and sat her down in the chair so she wouldn't have to hold herself up.

"Why are you here?"

"I promised I'd come see you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did." Sakura began to blush.

"We were going to the hospital when we ran into Tomoyo who told us you'd be home in a few minutes and there was no use in going all the way to the hospital if you wouldn't be there." He left out the part about Eriol and Tomoyo, seriously not wanting to bring up the Homecoming Dance.

"Tomoyo told me she ran into y'all. She also told me what Eriol did!" She giggled and then turned deep pink. "Doesn't that cousin of yours ever embarrass you to death?"

__

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggg!!!!" Syaoran thought. _"She brought up the dance! I guess I could try and ask her now…"_

"Anywho," continued Sakura. "Oh, wait! What time is it?"

Syaoran looked at her clock. "It's almost nine o'clock."

Tomoyo popped in the room. "Yeah, I know it's almost nine. I called my mom and told her I'd be able to stay." Syaoran nodded. "Have you called Meiling yet?"

"No, I guess I should though. You know, she's been a lot nicer to me since she found the love of her life down the street from us. She's actually ignored me a couple of times. It's kinda nice."

Sakura stared at them blankly. "Excuse me!!! Back up!!! **WHY ARE Y'ALL STAYING?!**"

Tomoyo turned and glared at Syaoran. "**YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T TOLD HER YET?!!!**"

"Tomoyo! Give me a break! She just woke up!"

"Sakura, your dad called to say that he just found out he has to fly to the Philippines to do some business of some sort. He said he tried to refuse, but his boss told him to go 'or else'! So we're staying over for a few days until you get better."

"What about Touya and Kero?"

Kero appeared from behind the door, his face covered in pudding. "I can't take care of you! We need someone like that Chinese brat *mumble, mumble, mumble* to help you get up and down, and we need Tomoyo *big grin* to cook. I don't want you **ANYWHERE** **NEAR** the kitchen!!!"

"And Touya has to work most of the time and needs us to look after you," concluded Tomoyo. "Now, it's almost nine, and I understand you don't need your bandages changed until tomorrow night, right?"

"Right."

"Then Syaoran, you need to leave so I can help Sakura into her jammies. After she's ready, we need you to come back and lay her down in bed. I think she'll be okay getting up and down from a sitting position, but we'll need you to pick her up when she's laying down, and when she's standing up and needs to lay down."

Sakura looked at Syaoran, and he at her. They gave the other a look of "Boy don't we know that!" Luckily, Tomoyo didn't catch their glances.

A few minutes later, Sakura was in Tomoyo-made jammies. The top was a low cut spaghetti strap tank-top covered in cherry blossoms. The bottoms were a pair of pj pants tinted pink and littered with the same flower.

Syaoran turned the same shade of pink as Sakura's jammies. He gently lifted her, as if he were carrying a priceless glass figurine. He lay her in her bed and pulled the sheets up to her shoulders.

__

"Cuuuuuute!" thought Tomoyo silently to herself.

Syaoran sat quietly by her bedside until he could hear her deep even breathing. He gently placed a kiss on her forehead before leaving her room and going to the living room and falling asleep on the couch.

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Didja like? If you behave and give me lots of reviews, I'll hurry up and have chap 5 out soon...Beware, chap 5 is a special freebie chap...Short, sweet, and full of mush… ^_^

Review please...otherwise no treat!

-Bugmagnent


	5. Diaries and journals

You have been good...You deserve your treat...The journals and diaries of the characters on their take about what has happened...Merry Christmas from me to you...

Enjoy your gift!!!

P.S. I don't own CCS...

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Dear Diary, 

I have already told you about my horrible incident with the bowl and how Tomoyo and Syaoran are staying over until I get better, because Dad will be out of town, but I skipped something. It happened last night after I already wrote to you. Syaoran kissed me. No, it's not as exciting as I wish it was, but it majorly tugs at my heart-strings. He had to pick me up to put me to bed, right? 'Cause I can't do it myself. Then he just sat there at my bedside, waiting for me to fall asleep. I'm all a twitter, okay? 'Cause I can sense that he's still there. It's already late, and I don't want him to stay up just because of me, nor do I want him to fall asleep in that up-right position, in the chair, although I wouldn't have minded him staying there all night beside me. So I relax-which was really hard to do because he was sitting there beside me!-and I start breathing deep and steady. Basically, I was trying to make him think I was asleep so he could go to sleep himself. Well it must have worked, because I soon felt a hot, moist breeze on my face, and then I felt something wet on my forehead. I opened my eyes and saw him, leaning over me, kissing me. I quickly closed my eyes so he wouldn't think I was still awake, although I thought my rapid heart beat would give me away.

Diary? **_HE KISSED ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_** Can you believe it? I think he likes me, but I'm not sure! If he likes me, I wonder if he'll ask me to the Homecoming dance. I wish he would! I tried to bring up the dance earlier, but he didn't seem to get the hint. Maybe he just hangs around me and is staying with me and kissed me because he pities my poor pathetic state...

And then there was what Zach said that day in the hospital...About me and Syaoran going to the homecoming...And Tomoyo's conversation with someone about him and me...Wait! I don't want to think about that right now! Reminds me of what happened earlier as a result of that conversation... 

This is too much for my brain to handle, Diary! Way too much!

Time for me to go...I think Tomoyo may be waking up now, and she'll have a fit if she finds out I'm up at three A.M. and am not asleep, resting and recuperating from my wound. She's the mother I never had. Eeecchhh, 'nother bad subject...Moving on...Need to go, Tomoyo is waking up.

Sayonara!

Sakura

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Dear Journal,

My heart is welling up inside of me...I think I realize something...I love Sakura. I don't think, however, that she likes me back. She just acts so casual around me. I know that everyone assures me that she likes me, but I just don't know. Everybody is on my case about the dance too! I wish they would go away! Sure, I'd love to take Sakura to the dance, I really would! Do you have any idea how much I wish Sakura were my girlfriend? Before, I had an excuse to not ask her out...Meiling. But now that Meiling has her Chinese guy down the street, I'm free, but I'm not doing anything about it. I wish I had the guts to ask Sakura out...But I don't. I'd rather spend the entire night alone and never ask her, than to ask her out and have her say no. In fact, I'd rather be run over by an eighteen-wheeler than have her say that she doesn't like me.

About my current situation/dilemma, I am stuck in Sakura's house—by my own free will—with both Sakura and Tomoyo. I have a feeling I'm in trouble. Tomoyo scares me sometimes with her plots and all that. I have a feeling that she's cooking up a plan as we speak—or rather as I write these words. I've known her for 6 years and can just about predict what that girl's up to. I'm sure the "all living together, taking care of Sakura" was her idea in the first place.

By the way, before I forget, I kissed Sakura. I don't think it counts as either my first kiss or hers, because she was asleep. Ahhh...Sakura, I could watch you sleep all night...Unfortunately, Tomoyo is sleeping on the floor in Sakura's room, just in case Sakura needs anything.

That's all I can think to say because words can't describe what it's like to take care of an emerald-eyed angel whose wings are broken. You have to look at the pain in the heavenly creature's jewels and see the pain of being dependent on a clumsy earth creature. But as a lowly earth-dweller, I promise to take care of this fragile, broken, emerald-eyed heaven-dweller.

Syaoran

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Dear Diary,

Things are better than I could have ever hoped for!!! Things are falling into place, and anticipated obstacles have all disappeared, and opportunities have come along that I could never have dreamed of. I get a week with Syaoran, Sakura, and me in the same house! What fun I'll have! I need to remember to drop by my house tomorrow and pick up my camera! Joy upon joy!!!

I saw Syaoran kiss Sakura!! **THAT** will be the bargaining tool I'll use if I can't get him to ask her to the dance!! **I LOVE BLACKMAIL!!!** It's a plotter's sweetest dream!!! **I CAN'T BELIEVE I DON'T HAVE MY CAMERA WITH ME!!! OF ALL THE DAYS TO FORGET MY CAMERA!!! I MISSED THE CUTEST MOMENT!!!!!**

If none of this works, well, I have a plan for that too. I can't risk exposing my plot, lest anyone should find it here!! I know, I know. I usually tell you all my secrets, diary, but this one is so secretive, it cannot be revealed until such a time comes!!

Sorry about that, my good friend!

It's late and I must go to sleep!

Tomoyo

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Didja like?!! I liked it!!! I may need some events that could take place from here until the Friday of the dance...If you have any mishap ideas, be sure to let me know...I have an ultimate plot and ending, I just need some ideas on the filler...

Merry Christmas to you, tell ME Merry Christmas by reviewing...Please?

-Bugmagnent!


	6. Bad Day

Hey guys...

Sorry it's been so long since I last updated...No one has given me any ideas...And I'm running out...I just need filler...

BTW, I don't own CCS... other wise, I wouldn't be writing fanfic... oh, well...

R+R, hope you like!!!

Oh, and a Happy New Year to you all!!!

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Tomoyo lazily opened her eyes and glanced at the clock. What she saw there made her jump up and scream. "Sakura!!!!! **WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!!!!**" 

Sakura sat straight up in bed, then lay quickly down again, moaning and groaning in pain.

"**WE ONLY HAVE FIFTEEN MINUTES BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS!!!!**"

"Fifteen minutes? That means I have ten more minutes of sleep..."

Kero, who had been scared out of his wits by Tomoyo's senseless screaming, awoke and started yelling at Sakura as well... "**SAKURA!!! THIS MAY BE THE ONLY DAY YOU ARE EVER AWAKE EARLY ENOUGH TO PERHAPS BE ON TIME!!!**"

"If I ever stop getting yelled at, I might get up out of bed."

Tomoyo re-entered the room with Syaoran at her side. Sakura looked up confused, not realizing that Tomoyo had even left the room. Syaoran rushed over to her bedside and gently lifted Sakura out of her bed. He set her on her feet, and then shouted at Tomoyo.

"I just realized something!!! We didn't bring any bags!! We don't have any clean clothes for today!"

Sakura began to regain her senses as she commented, "Tomoyo may wear one of my outfits...Syaoran, I guess you are just on your own. You'll just have to wear the one from yesterday."

After Tomoyo was done acting like a mother hen to Sakura, who was about as useless as a newborn giraffe (A.N. newborn giraffes are very clumsy and have a very hard time standing up on their own), dressing her very neatly—well as neatly as she could for as much as she was rushing, afraid of being late.

Five minutes later, Sakura and Tomoyo were downstairs, dressed and ready. Syaoran, on the other hand, was still in his pajamas. "I refuse to wear my dirty uniform."

"Will you just wear it so we can hurry on to school? I can't rollerblade, so that means we have to run-walk," pleaded Sakura.

Syaoran melted at the look on Sakura's face and immediately gave in and left to hurry and get ready. "You girls go ahead and eat, cause I already have."

"We don't have time..." Tomoyo moaned.

"Sakura needs her strength, Tomoyo. I **demand** that she eat something...Anything."

Sakura turned a couple of different shades of red. This did not go unnoticed by Tomoyo and it reminded her painfully that she didn't have her camera with her. 

Tomoyo obediently made some toast for Sakura, who jammed it down her throat. They met Syaoran at the door. He had his uniform on, but it looked very rumpled and disheveled. Sakura looked up at his face. He wore a look that said "I'm not happy about wearing a dirty uniform, but I'm doing this just for you". Syaoran stood there with everybody's bags and handed Tomoyo hers, slinging his own and Sakura's across his back. 

"Syaoran, I'm well enough to carry my own bag."

"No, I don't want you to be in any pain."

"Whatever...You have been acting very weirdly this morning. Are you sure you're ok?"

Syaoran stiffened as he heard a few giggles escape Tomoyo. "I could tell you what is wrong..."

Syaoran turned slightly pink. Tomoyo had a pleased/starry look on her face. He realized it was possible that she could sense why he was being so protective of Sakura.

"You can tell her later. If we don't stop standing around here talking, we are going to be late."

Tomoyo agreed and her face fell. She was waiting for the perfect time to tell Sakura what she had seen the previous night. "I guess I'll have to tell her later," she thought.

They dashed as fast as was possible with Sakura trailing behind them. They were all too out of breath when they reached the classroom to say anything, so they all took their seats, just as the bell rang.

Mrs. Fuji did not look pleased that all three of them had nearly escaped the tardy bell. Sakura was expected to make a mad dash, but Tomoyo? Her earliest student? And Syaoran? Her best and brightest student? She understood that Sakura needed to be taken care of, but how far could it go?

"Man, we almost didn't make it!" gasped Syaoran. "But it's a good thing we got here just on time...Mrs. Fuji looks ready to kill, or at least hand out detentions at the drop of a hat... I think we had better watch ourselves the rest of the day." Sakura nodded as she turned to face a very grumpy and disheveled-looking teacher.

"Miss Kinomoto. And where is your project?"

"Ummm...Hoe...Tomoyo told me that our project wasn't due until Monday, because you made an exception for me because of all the trouble I got myself into..."

Mrs. Fuji did not look satisfied with Sakura's answer. "My rule was exact, Miss Kinomoto. You are **not** an exception to my rule. All projects are to be turned in **on time** unless you lay **dying** on your deathbed the day the project is due, and I'm thinking about changing that rule because even if you lay dying, a family member should be able to bring it up here for you."

Sakura shrank back into her seat. She was speechless. Why had Mrs. Fuji picked today to be meaner than she had ever been before?

"Ten points off Miss Kinomoto, that is **if** you manage to 'whip one up' over the weekend and turn it in on Monday."

Sakura wanted to curl up and die. Luckily no one was laughing at her. They were, however, staring at their teacher in horror as they were powerless to go up against her might and defend their friend.

Fortunately, Mrs. Fuji left Sakura with that warning and proceeded to the front of the room to begin the morning announcements.

"I wonder what has gotten her so riled up this morning? I mean, I know she's just naturally and normally mean, but today she was ruthless...And you couldn't help that you were in the hospital for a few days..." Syaoran's words of comfort fell on deaf ears. Sakura was crying with her head laid on her desk. Syaoran instantly wished he could make the world better for her, and felt his insides give a jerk at this sense of not being able to change what had just happened. If Mrs. Fuji had been a monster, or a card that needed capturing, he would have destroyed her without any trouble. But she wasn't. She was his teacher, and teachers were to be given respect, whether they deserved it or not. Syaoran attempted to put his hand on Sakura's back to at least know that he was behind her and he felt sorry for her and wished he could protect her—wait, he didn't want her to know that much...—but at least he wanted to remind her that it would all be ok. 

Unfortunately, Mrs. Fuji caught sight of this attempt and stopped it in its tracks. "Mr. Li. Sakura is much deserving of the stern rebuke for her procrastination. Your comfort will only encourage her."

Syaoran jumped back into his seat, but noticed that Sakura had risen to a sitting position and looked somewhat better because of his effort. He smiled. He'd do anything for his broken emerald-eyed angel. Anything.

Mrs. Fuji cleared her throat, trying to regain control of the class. It seemed that they were not too happy about the goings on of the morning and were quietly discussing it amongst themselves.

"If you chatterboxes are quite done, you will have your morning announcements. If not, you will go without your precious news." 

The class, not wishing to invoke any more wrath, and certainly not wishing to be the next victim of her anger, quieted down to a silent mass.

"The school has had a lottery of sorts for the decorating team for the dance. This class will have the opportunity to decorate the school's gym with the appropriate décor for the dance. The theme, then, is needed in order to decorate properly." 

One student was bold enough to cross the lion's warpath and ask why the information in detail was necessary.

Mrs. Fuji's answer was curt and sharp. "Because our class has been chosen to decorate."

Loud whoops went up through the room. They were going to decorate! And they had such skilled fashion bugs, that they knew that the dance was sure to be a success. When were they supposed to decorate? Surely not after school...There wasn't enough time. The weekend perhaps? Too early...The dance wasn't until a week from then. Another round of cheering escaped as they realized they would have to get out of class to turn the gym into a dance floor.

A loud roar was heard, and the class went dead. Mrs. Fuji, apparently, was not done. "If you think for even one moment that you are getting out of doing my work, you are sadly mistaken. I will allow you **MY** time for your precious little dance, **ONLY** because I am required to do so by the principal. You still have to make up for the work you will miss, and I will only allow the excursion from my class to occur on that Thursday and Friday. All other days will be purely devoted to my class, and my class alone. Any more mention of the decorations or dance is strictly prohibited. If I so much as hear a whisper escape your lips about any of it, detention is where you will find yourself instead of the gym on those days, and you will be doing a double load of homework."

The entire class went stiff, mainly because now they understood why the lion was in such a rage. She had had her tail stepped on by a higher authority and was powerless. That was why she had bitten Sakura's head off earlier.

Sakura, who had been cheered up to some degree, dared to approach the raging lion and asked, "You were going to tell us the theme of the dance..."

Mrs. Fuji almost exploded at the mere word "dance", but had to calm down to some degree when she realized that she had meant to tell them earlier. "The theme for the dance," she sneered, "will be 'Winter Wonderland', since it is so close to Christmas."

Sakura, ever the polite one, thanked her teacher for the information, which nearly sent the lion into a tirade. 

The rest of the day went smoothly, except for a few times when Zach tried to make a joke to lighten the mood, which only succeeded in enraging their teacher.

The last bell of the day rang mercifully, loud and clear, as if to announce that the torture for the day was over and the prisoners were being let out of their cells. Syaoran, Sakura, and Tomoyo gathered their belongings. Syaoran, of course, slung two bags over his shoulder, one of which was Sakura's. He saw her attempting to protest, but cut her short. 

"I am in no mood after what Mrs. Fuji did to you this morning to see you in any more pain. Nothing you can do or say will dissuade me from carrying your bag."

Sakura discovered it was useless to resist such chivalric behavior, especially coming from him. He was always nice to her, but in an "I'm-ok-with-you-just-so-long-as-you-keep-your-distance" kind of way. She had never seen the prince charming side of him. She wished it would come out more often.

Tomoyo was watching and wishing **sooooooo** badly that she had not forgotten her camera at home. It was moments when Syaoran's protective side came out that the camera appeared and did it's best work. She glanced at the cute pair. Syaoran had two bags over his shoulder and was beginning to escort Sakura out of the room, and Sakura had turned about two different shades of pink. Why this of all days had she forgotten her extra limb? Instantly she brightened and ran after the couple. Coming behind them and poking her head between theirs, she declared, "Remember how we don't have any overnight bags? Well, I need to go home on our way to Sakura's house and pack a bag. It's kind of out of the way, so I'll let you two walk on home and I'll meet you there when I'm done!"

Syaoran looked a little hurt. "I need to go to my house and get clothes more desperately than you do, and Sakura is **NOT** walking home alone, something could happen to her."

"I guess you'll just have to go over to your apartment and get your bag as soon as I get back with mine, since you **OBVIOUSLY** won't let Sakura be by herself."

Now, it was Syaoran's turn to become the blushing fool. "Uhhhh...Uhhhh...Yeah, that sounds like a good plan Tomoyo," he managed to stammer. 

"Good, then the plan goes like this: You walk Sakura home while I go to my house to get my stuff. Later, you go to your house and get your stuff."

"Yeah."

"Bye, then!" Tomoyo yelled as she ran past the couple out into the hall. "Have fun you two love birds," she mumbled under her breath.

Syaoran was now left alone, speechless...Well, not quite alone. Sakura was still there with him, stunned as he was about Tomoyo's urgency to get her belongings. Normally, she would have told Syaoran to go home and she would walk Sakura home. But today she was acting oddly, well more oddly than she normally was.

Sakura managed to break the silence. "Syaoran, shouldn't we head home?"

Syaoran stumbled from his standing stance and agreed.

Slowly, as to not injure his precious angel, he guided her through the door and into the halls, ready just in case she should need him for any reason.

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Sorry to leave you like this...I am running out of ideas fast!!!! If you have any that would be helpful in any way...email it to me murphypanther2003@yahoo.com or include it in a review...

Sorry to make Mrs. Fuji soooooo mean, but it helps develop the plot, no?

And what is Tomoyo up to? Why is she acting so weird, and why is Syaoran so protective?

And I'm very sorry about not making it an entire day long, but I need ideas and no one has volunteered any...

Anywho...Review!!! The more I get, the faster the next chap gets done!!!


	7. Day gets better

Hey!! I'm back!!! I have returned from the grave! J/k. But seriously, sorry for last chapter...I really was in a writer's block...  
  
Some of you figured out how I gave the teacher her name...She's named after Mount Fuji in Japan. I felt it only fit that she should have the personality and name of a particularly violent volcano. I've had some horrible teachers that have inspired me to create this character.  
  
Anywho, this chapter is better...Full of mush and fluff...Lots of explanation...Sorry about that...But the explanation is full of mush...^_^  
  
Enjoy!!! BTW... I don't own Card Captor Sakura...  
  
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Chapter 7...The day gets better...  
  
  
  
Tomoyo watched as Syaoran escorted Sakura out of the room. They made the cutest couple!!!! She was hiding behind the door of another class room, following them with her eyes. When would they realize what she already knew? They were in love. Ok, ok, so maybe they would never admit it to each other, but she had seen the look in Syaoran's eyes that morning when Syaoran had demanded that Sakura eat something, and when he had worn his rumpled uniform, just for her. She had also watched as they had walked to school that morning how closely he walked to her, ready to catch her and save her as much pain as he could if she should trip on a crack in the sidewalk. Memories of the morning's events only painfully reminded her of how she missed her camera! She couldn't wait to dash home and search for her prized possession, but wanted to make sure her plan would be carried out.  
  
Suddenly Tomoyo jumped about a foot in the air as a hand tapped her on the shoulder.  
  
"Eriol, I could kill you!!"  
  
"You can't do that! I'd be so alone this coming Friday," he said with a glint in his eye and a smirk on his face.  
  
"Which reminds me, you had better hurry and catch up with your target before you aren't the only one staying home on Friday night."  
  
Eriol grinned, and his eyes had this glint of pure glee in them. He soooo enjoyed what he was about to do. Tomoyo often wondered if red was his favorite color, since he made Syaoran wear it all the time (like blushing...work with me here people). Eriol wove his way through the crowd carefully, always a few yards, behind his "target", but always out of their sight. If they were aware of the things that were going on, Eriol might need to fear for his life from one of the "targets". (A.N. Syaoran)  
  
By now, Syaoran had guided Sakura to the front of the school. He opened the door for her, and then turned slightly pink when she thanked him. He was too nervous to talk, not anxious to work himself into a hole he wouldn't be able to get out of. He was afraid to bring up the dance and the wondrous luck that had led them to be in charge of decorations. He didn't want Sakura to think he was trying to ask her out to the dance, because, well, he just couldn't take rejection. Under all of his macho outside, rejection from the girl he truly cared for would have destroyed him, ripping a hole in his heart large enough to drive a tractor through.  
  
Sakura concentrated on taking one step at a time, putting one foot in front of the other. She was certain that if this was not her main goal, she would surely fall over from pure excitement of Syaoran acting like her knight in shining armor. She was glad he wasn't in the mood to talk, because doing too many things at once surely would have broken her intense concentration and caused her to stumble.  
  
Syaoran suddenly stiffened. "Sakura, did you hear something? I think someone is following us."  
  
"No, silly."  
  
"I could have sworn I heard a twig crunch."  
  
"Syaoran stop being so concerned and worried. I'm sure it was just the wind."  
  
"If you say so..."  
  
Sakura grinned. "I do. Now come on, silly."  
  
They continued on, and Syaoran relaxed at Sakura's kind words of confidence and assurance.  
  
The "wind", however, breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, well...It looks like your hearing has improved greatly. Perhaps because of the one you protect, sir knight? Your love? Your sweet cherry blossom? If only she knew...If only you could tell her...How long will 'if only' be the way you think about her? When will you reach out of your pride and tell her?" As if by magic (hint, hint), the "wind" conjured a swift breeze that blew his words into the "knight's" ear.  
  
Syaoran perked up. "Did you hear that?"  
  
"Hear what?"  
  
"I could have sworn I heard someone, as if they were right next to me...whispering in my ear..."  
  
Sakura giggled, then gripped her stomach. It still hurt. Syaoran quickly forgot about the voice he had heard and immediately attended to Sakura. "Take it easy, ok? I don't want to have to explain to Tomoyo why I didn't bring home her best friend in one piece."  
  
Sakura smiled broadly at his teasing, but restrained from laughing. This cheered up Syaoran, who gazed at Sakura. She really was beautiful, especially when she smiled. When Sakura's face lit up, Syaoran's world was bright. She was the sun that shone upon his otherwise dark existence. "Oh, it is the east and Sakura is the sun. Tell her this..." Syaoran stiffened and furrowed his brow. This did not go unnoticed by Sakura. She couldn't actually see his face-he was too tall and was too close-but she felt it.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing. I guess I need to get my hearing checked. Either that or my head. I think I'm hearing voices in the wind."  
  
"Crazy. We need to get home and get you lying down. I think you are suffering from lack of sleep." Sakura briefly thought about possible reasons for his insomnia, possibly due to staying up watching her slumber, staying next to her, just in case she should need him at any moment. She knew this probably wasn't the case, but it was nice to dream...to hope...  
  
"Oh, so now we have switched roles, have we? You are now the nurse and I'm the patient?" He really did enjoy the thought of her taking care of him...She did such a good job of things like that. However, he was more concerned about taking care of her and tending to her needs...He was just sleepy...She was injured. She required-no, deserved-the attention.  
  
"Yes. If I see cause, you will be my patient." She realized that perhaps he would never allow her to wait on him...Men were stubborn that way. They always liked to be big and macho. Just for once, she wished that her knight would take off his armor and let her tend to the afflictions, some of which had been because of her, like him not getting enough sleep.  
  
"Well, I guess we'll just see who needs to be taken care of more urgently," said Syaoran as he began to turn pink. Sakura was beginning to be somewhat protective of him...This was new...She had always cared for him to some degree, but this, this was different somehow...  
  
The two walked on in awkward silence. Syaoran couldn't shake the weird feeling he had. The wind had whispered to him to tell her how he felt, to quote Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. This day merely continued to get weirder.  
  
When they arrived at the Kinomoto residence, Sakura ordered Syaoran to lie down either on the couch or her bed, just so long as he promised to get some sleep.  
  
"Sakura, I'm really not sleepy..."  
  
"Nonsense...You heard the wind talking to you."  
  
"If you are trying to worm out of my taking care of you by telling me that I'm hallucinating, it's not working. You are the one who should be sitting on the couch, resting. I know you are worn out from walking all the way home."  
  
"Fine...Let's just both sit down on the couch and maybe get a little shut- eye...Will that satisfy you, Mr. Macho?"  
  
"Yes indeed." He was about to call her a name, but stopped himself just in time. He didn't know what she would think, say, or do, if he called her "angel", or "fragile". Again, perhaps his pride was just a little too strong...But could anyone blame him for being cautious? All of a sudden, he noticed Sakura trying to sit down into the couch. She had been able to handle all of the chairs today, but couches have a nasty tendency to swallow those who dare to sit. He immediately swept her off her feet and into his arms, then sat down on the couch and let her lay in his lap. She didn't protest, amazingly enough. She almost seemed to be smiling...He scooted over beneath her, until her head lay in his lap. Soon, he felt her deep even breathing, and allowed himself to fall into much needed slumber land. Staying up and sitting in her room watching her sleep all night had been tiring work, but it was worth it. He figured it was also practice on improving his stealth and hiding/keeping quiet and still techniques. It was peaceful to watch an angel slumber. Peaceful indeeeeed………..  
  
About twenty minutes later, a shocked Tomoyo stood at the front door, her camera staring at the cute couple asleep on the couch. Syaoran had put his feet up on the other side of the couch, so it was like he was sleeping next to Sakura. Her head was still in his lap, and Syaoran's hand was buried in her hair.  
  
Eriol stepped up behind Tomoyo, and his face contorted into one mixed with surprise and amusement. So, they had finally realized maybe they make a good couple after all? Well, whatever had transpired, he was pleased with the outcome. He could use this to his advantage, after all... "Shall we wake them up?"  
  
"No, let them sleep. I'm gonna set up one of my cameras out here, hidden from their immediate view of course. I want to leave them alone, but I would like to see what happens when they wake up..."  
  
"My guess is that Syaoran will turn beet red, and Sakura, well, my guess is that she will too...What are you going to do until then?"  
  
"You and I are going shopping...I need material for a couple of dresses...And a couple of tuxedos too," she said, giving Eriol a sideways grin. She quickly scribbled a note, left it on the table in front of the couch, and pulled Eriol out the door.  
  
Eriol rolled his eyes at having to go shopping, but complied. He hated to go shopping, but spending some time alone with Tomoyo would be nice...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Syaoran woke up some hours later and saw that Sakura was still lying with her head in his lap. He had fallen asleep stroking her hair, running his fingers through it. It was so soft and beautiful, so full of life, just like her. He realized that if he were to get up, he'd have to wake her up as well. He looked around, analyzing his surroundings. It was dark, probably around seven or eight. Why had Tomoyo let them sleep? "Tomoyo?" He could hear his call echo throughout the empty house. Sakura began to stir in her sleep. Syaoran wanted her to sleep as long as she wished, but it appeared Tomoyo wasn't home and he was beginning to hear protests from his stomach. He gently removed his angel's head from his lap and carefully substituted a pillow underneath her. He turned on a light so he could see where he was going, and a piece of white paper caught his eye.  
  
Sakura and Syaoran,  
  
Eriol and I have gone shopping. Don't know when we will be back. Couldn't bear to wake you up from your peaceful (and kawaii-cute) slumber. If I'm not back by the time you get hungry, cook for yourselves, you big dependent babies. I actually may not be home until real late, so if that's the case, Syaoran, you'll have to help Sakura get to bed and you'll have to dress her wound. Hope to be back soon!!!!  
  
-Tomoyo  
  
Syaoran turned slightly pink at the thought of helping her get ready for bed. Knowing Tomoyo, he was certain she had done this on purpose. Her mind was twisted that way, and she loved to torment him, especially since she had found out about the dance. She was convinced that Sakura and he should go together, but he just didn't understand why he had to be the one to ask her. Why wasn't it sociably acceptable for a girl to ask a guy? Well, it was, but the guy was viewed as a wimp because he was too chicken to ask her out himself.  
  
His silent reflection was broken by the rumbling of his stomach, reminding him that he was starving. After about a half an hour scrounging around in the kitchen looking through what seemed like every cabinet and drawer, he finally found the ingredients and utensils to make the perfect soup he had found in what looked like a family recipe book.  
  
He heard a few groans come from the living room, and assumed that Sakura was waking up from her sleep. He walked over to where she was, abandoning the meal for the moment to check on her. She really looked beautiful, but somewhat troubled. He carefully and gently scooped her up from off the couch and into his arms. He was there to protect her and save her from all of her bad dreams.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sakura was lost. She had been on a jungle safari and gotten separated from her guide and group, and now she was lost. She had only stopped for a moment to look at a beautiful butterfly, and now she was utterly alone. The guide had said to stay with the group and not to get side tracked, but had she hadn't exactly listened. She remembered the guide telling them to not attract a lot of attention to themselves, because while the group wanted to find the missing person, so did many other wild animals, such as panthers and snakes. Suddenly a comforting smell came over Sakura's senses. It was the smell of the Zoni (A.N. I looked up a recipe for a Japanese soup, and this sounded the neatest...It's a rice cake soup...Sounds good...) her mother used to make...something her father later made to keep his wife's memory alive...something she hadn't had in so long because no one in the family had the heart to make because of the memories that flooded back...Sakura fell against a tree in exhaustion. The smell of the Zoni had overcome her nose and lulled her into a semi-calm state. All of a sudden, she felt strong arms lifting her up, rescuing her from her plight. She opened her eyes, and she found that she was not hopelessly lost in the African jungle, waiting for some monstrous cat to gobble her up. She was in Syaoran's arms, and he was looking down at her with a comforting, protective look on his face. His look made all of her fears melt away.  
  
"What did you dream about that would trouble you so?"  
  
"Oh, it was awful... I was in a jungle and I got lost and I was waiting for some animal to come along and eat me up...But then, oddly enough, I smelled my mother's Zoni...And that's when I knew it would be ok...I must still be dreaming...I can still smell it..."  
  
Syaoran looked at her, not knowing whether to grin at her silliness, or apologize for evoking memories of her mother.  
  
"I'm not dreaming, am I? Did Tomoyo fix it?"  
  
"Tomoyo's not here..."  
  
"Where is she?"  
  
"She and Eriol went shopping for something...And Eriol has probably taken her out to dinner, because it's sooo late..."  
  
"So you cooked?"  
  
"Yeah, I had to...I was afraid my stomach rumbling would wake the dead."  
  
"Thank you for cooking her Zoni."  
  
"I didn't mean to cook something that would remind you of your mother..."  
  
"It's ok...I needed the smell of her delicious rice cake soup to wake me up out of my dream...I also am glad, because my dad will never fix it, and it really is the best recipe for the soup that I've ever tasted, and it reminds me of my mother..."  
  
"I didn't mean to remind you..."  
  
"I'm glad you did...It's good to remember and not forget..."  
  
Sakura smiled a broad grin and looked up at Syaoran with a deep sincerity and joy in her eyes. It was times like these she was glad to have him as one of her closest friends. He had almost a sixth sense, and even though he obviously hadn't realized it, he did a good job of doing the right thing, even if he had no idea why or how. He hadn't know that he was cooking her mother's best recipe. He had known that she was having a bad dream. Those kind of things were more than she could ask for. He responded perfectly to all he knew was going on, and even all he didn't know about.  
  
"Ummm...Syaoran?"  
  
"Yes, Sakura?" Her eyes really were beautiful...And her smile...He could hold her in his arms like this all night...Then it hit him...She was still in his embrace... "Oh, sorry...Right..." He gently lowered her into a standing position.  
  
"Mmmmmmmmm... The Zoni is just about ready..."  
  
Syaoran lit up as he realized that he had left the soup unattended, and rushed back to the kitchen to check and make sure everything was going smoothly. Luckily, the Zoni had the wonderful ability to cook for a while on its own without supervision.  
  
A few minutes later, Sakura and Syaoran were seated eating some of the best Zoni in all of Japan.  
  
"Syaoran, you can cook!"  
  
"I think I knew that..."  
  
"I meant you can cook very, very well! This Zoni is delicious! Almost as good as my mother made it..." Sakura grinned, but Syaoran could detect just a hint of sadness in her voice.  
  
"You miss her, don't you?"  
  
"Yeah...I do... I kinda wish she were here, I have so many questions, questions it doesn't do to ask a father...Questions about dating and guys..." Sakura trailed off, turning slightly pink. A single tear formed in her eye. Instantly Syaoran was sorry he had ever cooked the meal. He had not meant to hurt his precious angel, his sweet cherry blossom.  
  
He reached out to her with open arms. She fell into his embrace and began crying on his shoulder. He tried to think of words that would soothe the pain, but could find none. The only thing he could give her was his shoulder to cry on.  
  
Sakura was glad he was there. If he had tried to say anything to her, she felt that she would never have been able to stop sobbing. His embrace was all that was needed. She could feel his sympathy flow into her, calming her down. She really did miss her mother so much, but it was good to remember her. She never wanted to forget. She was glad she could have a friend like Syaoran to hold her and make the world better. He didn't laugh, didn't apologize, he just held her.  
  
Syaoran truly was sorry for the pain he was causing her right now. Why had Tomoyo left him in charge of cooking? She should have known that he would try to cook from a recipe book that was just lying around, and he had found that book, and it had been opened to that recipe...Wait...She had said that they never fixed that recipe...Then why had the book been open to it? Syaoran got a whiff of something fishy, probably by Tomoyo's or Eriol's handiwork. He didn't ask too many questions...It was better not to.  
  
When Sakura was done, she sat back and began to apologize profusely for crying over such a silly little thing.  
  
Not much else was said for the rest of dinner. What else could be said?  
  
Syaoran was getting ready to clear the table of all the dishes when he noticed that Sakura had a bit of the rice stuck on her chin. He carefully leaned over and picked it off, and popped it in his mouth.  
  
"Eeeeewwwwwww...What if I have cooties or something?"  
  
"Then I guess I have it too now..."  
  
This sent Sakura into a fit of giggles, which quickly ceased as she clutched her stomach.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry..."  
  
"No, it's ok...It's hurting less each time..."  
  
Syaoran kicked himself for being stupid and forgetting. He was such a thickheaded dork...He put her through so much pain...He tried to do what he thought was best, but somehow it seemed like it never turned out that way.  
  
Before he could beat himself up anymore, Sakura looked up at a clock on the wall and noticed how late it was. "Syaoran, it's almost nine o'clock...Shouldn't Tomoyo be back by now?"  
  
Syaoran began to get really worried, remembering what Tomoyo had said about having to help Sakura get ready for bed. "I wonder if I should call that crazy cousin of mine and tell him to get his girlfriend back before her curfew..."  
  
Sakura giggled at the way he was acting. She knew he was just worried for their friend, and they were perfectly aware of what the wizard was capable of.  
  
Luckily, before Syaoran went into full-blown father mode, the door opened and in walked Tomoyo, followed by Eriol. They were both laughing about some joke that had just passed between them. Syaoran gave his cousin a long lecture about bringing his dates home too late. Eriol brushed his cousin off (A.N. I'm not sure if they are cousins, and my "Card-Captor-Know- it-All" didn't know either, so if they're not, I'm sure you'll tell me...) and left, giving Tomoyo a sweet peck on the cheek as a goodbye. Tomoyo turned a bright shade of crimson. Sakura glanced at her with a look of "I'm-not-going-to-forget-this-and-hold-this-over-you-later-just-you-wait".  
  
"I'm sleepy!!! Are you both ready for bed?" Tomoyo desperately attempted to divert the subject from all the questions and teasing she was sure to receive about her night with Eriol. She had really had a ball. She made a mental note to tell Sakura...some other time perhaps.  
  
"Yes, we are ready for bed..." said Syaoran as he let out a huge yawn.  
  
"Then we can go straight to bed, then. Syaoran, would you just come up and help her get into bed?"  
  
"Tomoyo, you have to help me dress my stomach."  
  
Tomoyo halted her accent up the stairs and turned to glare at Syaoran. "THESE ARE THE THINGS YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO TAKE CARE OF WHILE I WAS GONE!!!! DIDN'T YOU READ THE NOTE I LEFT?"  
  
Sakura looked up blankly. "Note? Was there a note?"  
  
Tomoyo groaned and rolled her eyes. "Never mind. Come on, I'll take care of you since Syaoran obviously can't," she declared as she glared at Syaoran, who was dumbfounded. He felt that he had taken decent care of her...He just hadn't gotten that far along Tomoyo's little "checklist".  
  
"He took very good care of me!!! He made me get some rest and he cooked my mom's recipe for Zoni..." Sakura interjected, coming to Syaoran's rescue from death by Tomoyo.  
  
Tomoyo stood back, surprised, but pleased...She was looking for a reaction from Sakura, and she had gotten it...Her plan WAS coming along beautifully...  
  
"Fine. Syaoran, since you have an eye witness, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. But since I'm already here, I'll go ahead and help her. I'll call for you when we're ready."  
  
"Ok, fine with me. But...I never did get to go over to my house to pack a bag so I would have clothes..."  
  
Sakura and Tomoyo both realized that he had not left the house all day...Not that they were expecting him to, but…He really hadn't left Sakura's side...Tomoyo grinned at the thought...  
  
Sakura sized up the situation perfectly. "You can borrow some of Touya's clothes. Come with me."  
  
"Your brother won't kill me, will he? By the way, where has he been the past couple of days? I mean he wasn't here last night at all, and he hasn't been here today."  
  
"How do you know he didn't come in late, like at midnight?"  
  
"I think I would have heard him...I was up all night." Syaoran realized that he had just admitted to staying up all night, and he knew that Tomoyo would put the pieces together. Sakura probably wouldn't have noticed this, but Tomoyo would tear it apart and analyze it. He turned a slight shade of red at the thought of what Tomoyo would do with her newfound power through knowledge.  
  
Sakura just kinda shrugged it off, making a mental note to fuss at him in private about not getting enough sleep and how it was bad for his health. "Follow me..."  
  
Syaoran obediently obeyed, taking the stairs one at a time, watching where Sakura was stepping, careful to be ready in case she should fall. She led him to her brother's room and pulled some shorts and a shirt out of some drawers.  
  
"I guess I'll have to do laundry tomorrow, huh?"  
  
"Not if I can go home first thing and get clothes..."  
  
Syaoran escorted her back to her own room, where Tomoyo was ready with gauze and medical tape to redress Sakura's wound.  
  
A few minutes later, Syaoran reappeared in the borrowed attire, ready to help his cherry blossom into bed. He lifted her up, and grinned at her. This was the umpteenth time he had swept her into his arms that day, but he never tired of it. He had an excuse for holding her closely. He suddenly felt a hot gaze upon his neck and face, and realized that Tomoyo was staring at him. He quickly laid his angel into her bed, embarrassed at holding her just a little too long.  
  
Syaoran left and as he made his way down to the couch, he could hear Tomoyo's loud squeals and giggles. He couldn't quite make out how Sakura was reacting. If she was laughing at him, he'd never forgive himself for being so careless.  
  
Tomoyo appeared at the top of the stairs and called out to him. "Syaoran, I forgot to get something out of my car...Would you go get it for me?"  
  
"Why can't you get it yourself?"  
  
"Because I'm in pajamas, and it's cold outside..."  
  
"And you think that for some reason I will be less cold than you?"  
  
Tomoyo began to get a puppy look on her face. She lowered her voice and whispered, "It's something for Sakura. I don't want her to know...It's a surprise. Go out and get it...Please? You'll know it when you see it...I can't mention it because..." and she gestured to Sakura's room.  
  
"Fine...For Sakura."  
  
"Thank you!!! Here are the keys!" And with that, she tossed down her keys.  
  
Syaoran grumbled as he headed out to her car. There was her car...at the very end of the driveway. It really was cold out, and he was just in a pair of shorts and a tee-shirt and was barefoot. He ran out to the car, and fumbled around for the key that would fit. After about a minute of trying keys, he found the correct one. He then searched the entire car. The car was completely empty...It even appeared to have just been vacuumed. Thinking that he just wasn't looking in the right places, he searched in the glove box and under the seats and in the trunk. Every hidden place he searched. There wasn't anything out here.  
  
His grumbling increased as he began to feel the cold seep into his bones as he gave up. He headed back to the house, somewhat dejected at not being able to complete the task he was given. As he entered the house, he looked around. The inside looked different, as if it was missing something...He couldn't put his finger on it though. He shouted up the stairs that he hadn't been able to find what she sent him out to get.  
  
"Oh, it's alright...I realized that I left it at home. Sorry...Goodnight."  
  
"Goodnight," he mumbled before settling down on his "bed" for the night.  
  
Upstairs, Tomoyo's mind was jumpy and full of thoughts. She was going to find it extremely hard to sleep tonight!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sorry to keep leaving you in all these tight, cliff hanging endings, but come on! It leaves you dying to know what's gonna happen next...Which is good...  
  
What is Tomoyo up to? What's going on? So many fishy things happening...  
  
"Tune in next time!"  
  
-Adrienne…  
  
btw...Email me suggestions about fillers... I need them... murphypanther2003@yahoo.com 


	8. The plot thickens

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaccccckkkkk!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Ok, ok...It's been a while...  
  
*Tanya walks in*  
  
Tanya: A WHILE? THE LAST TIME YOU POSTED A CHAPTER WAS BEFORE THE NEW YEAR!!!  
  
Adrienne: So it's been a while... So sue me!  
  
Tanya: A thousand dollars please.  
  
Adrienne: Here...The thousand dollars I'm NOT making by publishing this fanfic... Come on people...Did you actually think I was getting rich off this stuff? I'm not. I mean I wish I owned this stuff, but, truth be told, I'm not a millionaire.  
  
Tanya: Get that out of your system?  
  
Adrienne: Yeah, I think so.  
  
Tanya: good!!! Now on to the much delayed story!!  
  
Adrienne: Not like yours is coming along any better!!  
  
Tanya: HEY NOW!!! *begins to chase Adrienne*  
  
Adrienne: Read now before I end up as next weeks dinner!!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 8...The plot thickens  
  
"Wake up kid!! It's time to go to school!" Kero loudly shouted in Syaoran's ear.  
  
"Huh? Wh-what? What's going on?" he asked as he sat up, blatantly confused.  
  
"You have twenty minutes to get ready for school!"  
  
Syaoran bolted up out of his "bed" and upstairs to see if the girls were awake yet. "Are you girls up yet?" he asked as he knocked on the closed door. He heard a muffled groan as he opened the door.  
  
"Hey! Don't you ever wait to see if we're even decent?!" came a gruff voice, which was merely a very sleepy and confused Sakura.  
  
"Well, are you?! We gotta get up and get going!"  
  
"Yes, hang on."  
  
Syaoran entered the room to find a surprise. "Where's Tomoyo?"  
  
"M-huh? Right there on the floor...Well, she was..." Sakura pointed at a now spotless floor where Tomoyo's sleeping bag had been the night before when she had gone to sleep. Sakura glanced at the clock, which read nine o'clock. She stared at it, momentarily dazed. Then it hit her.  
  
"We don't have to go to school today!! It's Saturday!"  
  
Sakura could see the fumes leaking out of Syaoran's ears, and his eyes bulge out.  
  
"THAT LITTLE STUFFED ANIMAL!!!!!!!"  
  
"He's not stuffed!"  
  
"He will be when I get my hands on him!"  
  
After a few minutes of sweet talking, Sakura managed to calm Syaoran down. He was still mad though.  
  
"Where is Kero, by the way?"  
  
"I don't know. We didn't see him at all yesterday." Sakura glanced over at the video game Kero normally played, only to find it unoccupied.  
  
"And I didn't see any of your brother yesterday."  
  
"He normally does that. He disappears for days at a time over at Yukito's house."  
  
"Where IS everybody? This house is deserted!!!"  
  
There was an awkward silence as they realized they were completely alone. Unknown to either of them, an unseen glass eye was watching their every move. Beside the glass eye sat one who saw through glass all of the time. They were seated precariously on an unsteady tree branch. The glass eye attempted feverishly to stifle her giggles.  
  
Sakura and Syaoran still didn't notice. They just sat there, not sure of what to say or do. Sakura suddenly burst into laughter, peering up from her position of lying down in bed.  
  
"What? What's so funny?" He was now sitting on the edge of her bed, watching his giggling cherry blossom.  
  
"You are still in Touya's pajama's and you still don't have any clothes of your own!"  
  
"And you think this is funny?"  
  
"No, (hehe) what's funny (hehe) is that (hehe) you are going (hehehe) to have to wear (hehehehe) your dirty uniform (hehehehehe) again (hehehehehehehehehehehehehehhehehehehehehehehe) to go over to your house (hehehehehehehe) to get (hehehehehehe) your clean clothes (hehehehehehehe)!" No longer able to contain her laughter, she gave into it willingly.  
  
Seeing Sakura in a fit of giggles and pain (her stomach hurt from laughing so much) made him smile. She really was beautiful. He began to laugh, simply because his flower thought his situation was so hilarious (which he had to admit it really was). After they allowed about five or so minutes for their laughter to die down, Syaoran turned to go to don his dirty uniform so he could obtain clean clothes.  
  
"Hello?! Wait up!!"  
  
Syaoran snapped around to look at her. She was propped up as much as she could manage, and was peering at him with her arms crossed over her chest.  
  
"What?" he asked blankly.  
  
"Well, are you going to leave me here, helpless in my bed, or are you going to help me up so I can at least do some work around the house and defend myself if need be?"  
  
Syaoran sweatdropped as this realization sunk in on him. "Of course I'm not going to leave you alone. You know I'd never do that," he said as he quickly rushed over and pulled back the sheets to help his angel out of bed. He lifted her up in his strong arms and set her down, standing her upright. "Will you need any more help?"  
  
"Do I look like I am purely helpless?"  
  
"Is that a rhetorical question, or do you want me to answer that?"  
  
Sakura looked up at him with a look of fury on her face. She rushed over to her bed and grabbed a pillow and threw it at an unsuspecting Syaoran. The missile made a direct hit on its target. He stood for a minute, stunned at what had just transpired. After gaining his composure, he picked up the pillow off the floor, and aimed at Sakura.  
  
"Wait! You can't do this to me!!! I'm injured!!!" she said with a puppy dog face.  
  
Syaoran, determined to not let this affect his judgement, retorted, "You seemed well enough to put your whole body into throwing it at me..." He playfully tossed the pillow at her, making contact on the first attempt.  
  
Sakura's face contorted into one of excitement and joy. "Pillow fight!!!" she screamed as she grabbed the pillow and began attacking full force.  
  
"But...But you only have one pillow!! You have to have at least two to have an actual fight!"  
  
"It's ok. I'm injured. This is my `handicap' for this fight," she said with a huge grin on her face as she continued the unfair assault of feathers.  
  
Syaoran, pretending to not enjoy her unfair advantage, grabbed the pillow in an effort to halt the barrage of attacks. This resulted in sending the pair in a flat spin. They were having fun spinning around, and it soon turned into a game of who could make the other let go first.  
  
"I'm gonna hurl you all the way across the room!"  
  
"Oh, yeah! I'm gonna toss you out the window..."  
  
"Oh, Syaoran, you wouldn't do that really, would you?"  
  
"If you don't let go now, it may be your fate."  
  
By now, they were laughing so hard at what they were doing that they could not hear any of the giggles coming from outside. Nor could they hear a thump as the giggler finally could not contain herself and fell out of the tree. Nor did they hear the second thump as the giggler's contriver skillfully jumped out of the tree to contain his giggler's screaming.  
  
They spun round and round, faster and faster, until Sakura could no longer keep her balance. She tumbled backwards, but didn't manage to let go of the pillow. Her backward force pulled Syaoran down with her. When he had managed to regain his wits and his breath, Syaoran realized he had fallen on top of Sakura, and that his face was only inches from hers. It would be so easy, so simple, to just lean down a little and place a soft, gentle kiss on her lips. Oh, how he wished he had as much bravery around her as he had when facing the cards.  
  
He quickly stoop up, his face as red as a blooming rose. He looked down at his cherry blossom. She was still trying to catch her breath, and seeing Syaoran only inches away had only succeeded in taking away what little she had managed to gather.  
  
A voice suddenly pierced the deep thoughts she found racing through her brain. "Are you okay?" Sakura stared out, as if in a trance of some sort. "Did I hurt you?" The voice was becoming panicked. As quickly as he had left, Syaoran was by her side again, kneeling next to her. She clutched her stomach as she gasped for air. Her vision was blurry. She could see shapes moving around. They were talking, but she couldn't distinguish anything that was being said. She thought she saw three figures, but wasn't sure. She heard some more of the voice, but it sounded different this time. "I'm gonna go get some help." She managed to straighten out her thoughts enough to call out, "Syaoran!! Don't leave me!!" The shape nearest her returned to its abandoned post at her side. She heard the voice again, but was able to understand it now. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to leave you. Tomoyo and Eriol are here too." Sakura looked up as the other shapes moved toward her.  
"Are you okay?" came the different voice she had heard earlier. It was higher pitched than the comforting voice. Sakura realized it belonged to her best friend.  
  
"Tomoyo?"  
  
"I'm right here. What happened? Are you okay?"  
  
Sakura's vision began to clear, and she was soon able to make out her friend's features.  
  
"Yeah. I'm okay. I just got dizzy and couldn't catch my breath. I guess it was like the opposite of hyperventilating. I couldn't breath or see."  
  
Syaoran looked down at her, his amber eyes full of concern for his precious angel. "You are sure you're ok?"  
  
"Yes. I'm positive."  
  
"Then who am I?"  
  
"Syaoran Li."  
  
"Okay, okay. Maybe you are feeling better, and at least can make out voices or see...But I would like you to rest...Get your strength back. I'll put you back in bed."  
  
"NO! I am NOT going back in bed. I have been in bed ever since my `accident'. If you want me to rest, take me downstairs so I can at least talk to you guys in an upright position on the couch."  
  
Syaoran was a bit taken aback at her firm response, but quickly shook it off, glad that his cherry blossom was feeling better. He gently lifted her up off the floor and carried her downstairs. He bent over sideways and set her down on the couch in a sitting position. He then sat next to her, awaiting Tomoyo and Eriol's company. After a few awkward minutes of waiting, Syaoran got restless.  
  
"Where are those two? They were right there in the room with us right before we came down here. They didn't follow us...We would have seen them. Where could they be?"  
  
"I don't know, silly. Why don't you go see if they are still up in my room?"  
  
Syaoran got up off the couch, which was extremely hard to do, and headed upstairs. Moments later, he came bounding back down them. "They aren't upstairs at all! I checked all of the rooms! They are nowhere to be found!"  
  
"Don't be silly," (Ok, I know I have overused the word silly, but I think it's sweet in this fic, so bear with me, k?) "They couldn't have just disappeared, could they?"  
  
Syaoran's face lit up with a realization. "They might have disappeared. They did kind of `appear' out of nowhere...Wait till I get my hands on that magician..."  
  
"Calm down...You're getting worked up over nothing."  
  
"I am not! I think they have been spying on us..."  
  
Sakura shrugged her shoulders. Sometimes it was not worth arguing with him. "Just calm down. Let's watch a movie or something. Or we can go get your clothes."  
  
"I'm not going to leave you all by yourself, and, seeing as how Tomoyo and Eriol are no longer here, that means I can't leave. So I guess we'll just watch a movie till they get back."  
  
His eyes scanned the living room for a movie of some sort to watch, when his glance fell upon a video cassette lying on the table. There was a note attached to it. He wondered why he hadn't seen it before. (all these things I'm hinting at...I hope you guys pick up on half this stuff...jeez) He picked up the tape and began to read the note.  
  
Syaoran and Sakura,  
  
Sorry to leave you like this, but a family crisis came up this morning that I just had to deal with. Sorry about it, and I know you needed to get your clothes for the weekend, Syaoran, but if it can wait, I wish you would because I don't think Sakura's well enough to make that kind of a walk just yet. I figured you guys might get bored waiting around for me to get back, so I took the liberty of providing some entertainment for you big babies...Enjoy!!  
  
Tomoyo  
  
Sakura looked over at Syaoran. "What does the note say?"  
  
"It's from Tomoyo. She says this video is here for our entertainment because she had to attend to a family crisis. Hey, wait! If she had to attend to a `family crisis', then what the heck was she doing in your bedroom a few minutes ago?"  
  
The ever dense Sakura had yet to put all of the pieces together. "Maybe she just stopped momentarily to see how I was doing before rushing off to take care of her family."  
  
Syaoran sighed and let his brain relax. If her friend was trying to set them up, he wouldn't stop her... He walked over to the VCR with the video and popped it in.  
  
"What movie did she say she left?"  
  
"She didn't...I guess we'll just find out soon enough."  
  
"Didn't the tape have a label?"  
  
"Actually, it didn't..."  
  
He joined Sakura on the couch, sitting half-way between her and the end of the couch. The beginning credits began to scroll on the screen...  
  
(I'm thinking about just ending it here..........Ok, ok...I don't have the heart to end it just yet...but you have to wait till next time to see what happens to these two...come on people...I'm running out of ideas here...A little help or sugar would be much appreciated...)  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
"Do you think they suspect anything?"  
  
"I think Syaoran does, but as usual, Sakura is oblivious."  
  
"Perhaps it's better that way...You work your magic soooooo much better when the `victim' is totally and completely unaware..."  
  
"Too true, my little conniver."  
  
"What do you have up your sleeve next, my magician?"  
  
"The next phase of our plan, of course."  
  
"You mean the next phase of MY plan, don't you?"  
  
"I'm helping too...How do you think you'd be able to carry out your plan without my magic?"  
  
"I wouldn't be able to...I would have been seen by now, and I would have been heard by now...Thank you very, very much."  
  
"My pleasure. I do, however, think I should be reimbursed for all that I have done for you."  
  
"How do you propose I do that?"  
  
"A kiss would be nice."  
  
"A kiss? Really..."  
  
"I felt you would be more than overjoyed to give your favorite magician a kiss."  
  
"Fine. But next time you get one, you have to actually earn it..."  
  
"Oh, and how would I earn it?"  
  
"Let me get back to you on that..."  
  
After a seemingly endless pause...  
  
"Mmmm...That was rather good. I suppose I WILL have to work to earn my next one."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ok, the end of this chapter...  
  
I know exactly how I want things to happen, but I don't want them to happen yet...  
  
I mean you KNOW that Syaoran is gonna ask Sakura to the dance, but it's just not time.  
  
(or will he even ask her? *grins evilly* *slaps self* I'm not the evil one...I'm not...That's Tanya's job. I'm the sweet, kind, innocent one...)  
  
Tanya: I have yet to find anyone who agrees with that fact besides one person...  
  
Adrienne: *muffles Tanya* SHUT UP!!!  
  
Tanya: *frees self* Fine, fine...I like living, so I'll shut up.  
  
Adrienne: Thank you. Oh, yeah, read and review...  
  
Tanya: Duh, they've already read...  
  
Adrienne: Fine...Then review already!!! The more reviews, the faster I get the next chapter up...  
  
Tanya: We saw how well that worked LAST time we reviewed...  
  
Adrienne: Ok, the more ideas I get in reviews, the faster I get the next chap up...  
  
Tanya: ok, I'll believe that one.  
  
Adrienne: Come on people!!! REVIEW!!! How hard is it? *calms self down* Merci beaucoup (thank you very much) to all those who have already reviewed. And thank you to whoever cleared up for me how Syaoran and Eriol are related... I'd give you credit, but can't pull up the internet right now *mumbles something about parents saying she spends too much time on internet, so they took away the password* so I'll give you credit when I can. I'm still gonna make them cousins for my story... it fits better if they are...don't ask me how, it just will...Trust me, I'm the writer... BTW, I don't know any Japanese, but every now and then, I'll throw in French. Forgive me when I do, but it'll only be in the author's notes, and I'll translate it too.  
  
Tanya: you done?  
  
Adrienne: I think so. Why?  
  
Tanya: cuz the sooner you get done ranting and raving, the sooner they'll review, if they haven't lost all desire to already.  
  
Adrienne: *blushes* sorry...Review now, s'il vous plait? (please?) 


	9. BLANK CHAPTER... JUST UP TO BEG FOR IDEA...

Ok, this is not a real chapter... I'm trying to give credit where it's due and beg for ideas... I NEED FILLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Thanks goes out to AngelEmotion for clearing up for me how Syaoran and Eriol were related. Ok...So Syaoran is Eriol's descendent, but that gets kinda complicated, plus I'm too lazy to go back and change it, so for my fic Syaoran is both Eriol's descendant and his cousin... Thanks also to DreamSeraph and Summer Rain for helping to clear things up for me. Yeah it does get confusing, and I'm not going to try and figure it out. I need to use my brain power to study for school and pass all my classes.  
  
Sorry to all of those who thought that Sakura was dying. I guess I should have explained what was happening better. She fell to the ground and was actually in such blinding pain that it took her breath away. Yeah...I mentioned what happened as a result of this pain, but forgot to mention the pain. #^-^#. Oops. Sorry.  
  
I'm trying to write chapter nine, and I really am running out of ideas...Guys, I really need suggestions...I know what I want to happen in the long run, I just need fillers. Either that or leave some really yummy treats (preferably some form of candy or sweet, but anything will be accepted) anything that will help get my creative juices flowing. Sorry for possibly misleading y'all about a new chapter...I just wanted to clear some things up and give credit where it was due...And try and recruit some ideas.  
  
Thanks to all those who have already submitted ideas...I haven't forgotten about you. I'm about to try and work some of the ideas in  
  
Thanx to:  
  
CrystalSakura  
  
Arctic  
  
Here are your ideas (wish you would have left your name so I could give you credit, but oh, well)  
  
Ayrki (I may use the snow, but I plan to keep my rating where it is...so...but thanx anyway)  
  
Delita Mukara Bl'Ferno  
  
And thanx to UnicornHime for offering to help me with Japanese, but I really don't want to bother... I may use my French in author's notes, but I'll try not to... I sometimes use French more than I use English...oh, well.  
  
PLEASE LEAVE EITHER IDEAS OR FOOD IN YOUR REVIEWS... (PREFERABLY IDEAS)  
  
Merci beaucoup (thank you very much) 


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